mss 


Social  Statistics 


Parish 


New  York 


PUBLISHED  BY  CHURCH  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY, 
CriuRCH  Missions  House, 

Fourth  Avenue  and  22D  Street. 


This  inquiry  is  confined  strictly  to  the  geographical  limits  of 
Augustine's  Cure , Trinity  Parish.  It  is  but  fair  to  observe  that  there, 
are  churches  and  philanthropic  institutions  situated  beyond  these  parochial^ 
limits  which  exercise  a beneficial  influence  over  the  people  of  the  district 
In  the  same  way  the  German , Italian  and  Jewish  quarters  extend  beyond 
the  blocks  here  enumerated,  but  confining  ourselves , as  we  do  for  the  sake 
of  accuracy,  to  the  territorial  limits  of  each  parish,  we  do  not  take  in 
any  kind  of  statistics  beyond  these  limits. 


L S ' - 


i r 


CAM  M 


CONTENTS: 

1.  The  Church  Temperance  Society 3 

2.  The  Trend  of  Population 7 

3.  American  Cities 9 

4.  New  York:  Its  Government  and  Expansion 11 

5.  New  York:  Below  Fourteenth  Street 13 

6.  St.  Augustine’s  Cure,  Trinity  Parish,  New  York...  15 

7.  Enumerators 18 

8.  The  German  Quarter 19 

9.  The  Jewish  Quarter.  24 

10.  The  Italian  Quarter 31 

11.  The  Tenement  House  Problem  40 

12.  Education  and  Citizenship 44 

13.  The  Liquor  Saloon,  Brothel  and  Gambling  House.  45 

14  The  Social  Responsibilities  of  the  Church 50 


r 

- 


THE  CHURCH  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 

“ All  the  problems  of  life  are  in  the  end  religious  problems." — Bishop  Westcott. 

An  inordinate  share  of  the  enthusiasm,  skill  and  labor  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  temperance  reform  in  the  United  States  of  America,  has 
been  given  to  one  special  form  of  legislation,  viz.,  prohibition. 

The  Church  Temperance  Society  during  the  twelve  years  of  its 
existence  has  endeavored  to  deepen  the  foundations,  broaden  the  out- 
look, and  take  note  of  the  causes  from  which  intemperance  springs,  as 
well  as  to  limit  its  results  by  legislation  or  moral  suasion. 

Its  basis  is  “ a union  on  perfectly  equal  terms  between  those  who 
temperately  use  and  those  who  totally  abstain  from  intoxicating  liquors 
as  beverages,”  and  is  therefore  not  subject  to  the  common  and  not  un- 
warranted charge  of  narrowness  or  bigotry. 

Recognizing  that  effects  spring  from  causes  near  or  remote,  it  lays 
down  four  main  lines  of  work  and  effort  to  be  taken  up  as  time,  means, 
and  opportunity  offer,  viz.: 

1.  PREVENTION:  including 

Young  Crusaders,  ) 

Knights  of  Temperance,  > Work  among  boys. 

Veteran  Knights,  ) 

Bands  of  Hope,  $ , • , 

Maids  of  Honour,  \ Work  amonS  §lrls' 

Parochial  Temperance  Societies,  General. 

2.  COUNTERACTION. 

Parish  Social  Statistics. 

Tee-To-Tum  Clubs. 

Coffee  Houses. 

Free  Libraries. 

Tenement  House  Reform. 

Night  Lunch  Wagons. 

Iced  Water  Fountains. 

3 LEGISLATION. 

Limitation  in  Cities  to  one  in  500  of  the  population. 

In  Counties,  and  Wards  of  Cities,  by  Local  Option. 

By  Tax  of  $1000. 

By  Sunday  Closing. 

By  Modification  of  Gothenburg  System. 

4.  RESCUE  WORK. 

Through  Police  Court  Missionaries. 

Through  Temperance  Missions. 

3 


*> 


f 35929 


4 


Through  Evangelistic  Services. 

Through  Prison  Gate  Missions. 

Through  Personal  Rescue  Work. 

Prevention,  Counteraction  and  Legislation  as  thus  defined,  to~be 
intelligent,  must  be  based  on  proved  needs  and  ascertained  necessities. 
Social  statistics  are  therefore  a necessary  basis  from  and  on  which  to 
work. 

In  1883  (“Liquordom”),  and  again  in  1887  (“New  York  City 
and  its  Masters  ”),  we  investigated  the  enormous  volume  of  the  liquor 
trade,  proving  that  the  drink  sellers  outnumbered  the  food  sellers  by 
2878,  and  that  intoxication  and  disorderly  conduct  (springing  from  it) 
comprised  63.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  arrests  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  We  gave  the  following  chart  as  a fair  example  of  how  the 
liquor  saloon  dotted  and  honeycombed  its  most  populous  and  poorest 
quarters.  The  Board  of  Aldermen,  which  at  this  time  controlled  the 
appointments  to  the  Excise  Board,  consisted  of  12  liquor  dealers,  8 pro* 
fessional  politicians,  and  four  business  men.  The  following  diagram 
represented  a specimen  district. 

This  was  followed  by  an  enquiry  into  the  bearing  and  direct 
relation  of  the  liquor  saloon  to  municipal  government  as  shown  in  its 
control  of  primary  and  other  political  meetings,  the  results  carefully 
tabulated  being  shown  on  the  tollowing  schedule: 

PRIMARY  AND  DISTRICT  MEETINGS  HELD  IN  THE  YEAR  PRECEDING  THE 
NOVEMBER  ELECTIONS  OF  1884. 


Congression’l  Convent’n 
Assembly  Convention. . 
Aldermanic  Convention 
Primaries  and  District 
Meetings 

Totals 


Political  Meetings  held  in  Saloons 

Political  Meetings  held  next  door  to  Saloons. . 

••633 
..  86 

719 

Political  Meetings  held  apart  from  Saloons..  . 

283 

Total 

1,002 

LIQUOR  SALOONS. 

m 

- 

n 

1 

a 

=s 

>> 

a 

r eg 
a fn 

© 

'3 

□ 

eg 

bo 

9 « 

3 0 

5 

+3 

0 

a 

s 

03 

H 

a 

*> 

u 

0 fl 

0 s 

a> 

Q 

p 

cu 

© 

E-H 

6 

7 

6 

19 

1 7 

18 

19 

9 

63 

17 

19 

19 

9 

64 

16 

19 

443 

9 

! 487 

56 

63 

487 

2 7 

1^3 

NEXT  DOOR 
TO  SALOONS. 


Tammany  Hall. 

1 Irving  Hall. 

County 

Democracy. 

Republican. 

Total. 

I 

I 

3 

I 

3 

7 

3 

I 

3 

7 

3 

65 

3 

7 1 

— 

— 

~ 

— 

— 

IO 

67 

9 

86 

NEITHER. 


| Tammany  Hall. 

Irving  Hall. 

County 

Democracy. 

I Republican. 

Total. 

3 

3 

6 

7 

3 

4 

12 

26 

7 

2 

4 

12 

25 

8 

2 

204 

12 

226 

25 

7 

215 

36 

283 

N^V  0*  ©*  HE\N  C\t%  , SH&VNVUC* 

Oft  %*\-00f*S  ~ NMrtVVvtO  TV\V>*>  I 

(fCj  LKfctK  fcfc£K  S^UGNS  — NvmtQ  TVWS  • 

*va.  cahtmuea  m5\W  * V\5  'taw  os - 

Uinxxjti  onij  akcwi  hit/  nun\©ef  a/n^O  Locvnow  (^^oloxrnA  ubdJbOuJ MycurfA/'k  {MAfc,  , 


6 


As  a corollary  to  this  investigation,  and  as  showing  the  direct  action  by 
which  the  saloon  could  bring  its  power  to  bear,  we  proved  (“  Chattel 
Mortgages  on  Saloon  Fixtures  ”)  that  in  the  year  ending  October,  1888, 
4710  chattel  mortgages  on  saloon  fixtures  were  held  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  of  the  total  value  of  $4,959,578.  Of  this  number  600  val- 
ued at  $310,134  were  held  by  one  firm  of  brewers  (Bernheimer  & 
Schmit)  and  208  valued  at  $442,063  by  another  firm  of  brewers 
(George  Ehret  & Co.).  The  combination  of  these  two  firms  governing 
directly  808  ballots,  and  indirectly  probably  ten  times  as  many,  was 
therefore  ready  for  use  as  necessity  might  dictate,  and  was  a fair  sam- 
ple of  the  firms  of  20  other  liquor  barons  whose  business  was  done  in 
precisely  the  same  way. 

We  had  up  to  this  time  dealt  with  the  subject  in  the  mass  rather 
than  in  detail,  and  there  seemed  to  us  urgent  need  of  an  investigation 
into  the  homes  of  the  poorer  sections  of  the  city  with  a view  to  deter- 
mine how  far  their  environment  helped  or  hindered  the  average  boy  or 
girl  in  fighting  the  battle  of  life,  and  how  far  such  environment  affect- 
ed the  moral  conditions  of  the  city. 

This  meant  a personal  investigation  of  every  dwelling,  tenement, 
family  and  person,  with  definite  replies  to  such  questions  as  would 
give  us  sufficient  data  from  which  to  draw  the  necessary  deductions. 
This  involved  a large  expenditure  of  money,  labor  and  time;  a body 
of  fairly  skilled  assistants  to  collect  the  necessary  information  ; and  a 
further  condensation  of  the  raw  material  thus  obtained  into  such 
tables  and  schedules  as  would  give  a fair  epitome  of  the  social  condi- 
tions of  the  portion  of  the  city  so  investigated.  Our  hope  is  that  a 
Social  Statistics  Bureau  may  ultimately  be  established  which  will  com- 
plete this  investigation  in  every  parish  in  the  city,  and  give  us  a real 
and  exact  knowledge,  not  only  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  prob- 
lem we  have  to  solve,  but  also  how  to  solve  it. 

Our  means  and  staff  were  only  adequate  to  an  examination  of  one 
section  of  the  city,  containing  probably  about  one-twentieth  of  the 
population,  but  which,  pending  a more  extended  investigation,  might 
give  a fairly  approximate  idea  of  an  important  part  of  the  city  prob- 
lem. 


THE  TREND  OF  POPULATION. 


“ The  mass  of  population  has  been  slowly  and  surely  concentrated  in  the  large 
cities — Bishop  Westcott. 

The  world  over  the  manifest  trend  of  population  is  from  the 
country  to  the  city.  The  village  is  becoming  denuded,  the  city  over- 
crowded. The  city  is  therefore  the  central  point  in  the  battle  of  intel- 
ligence against  ignorance,  and  is  the  storm-centre  of  political  life.  It 
is  a condition,  not  a theory.  The  public  opinion  of  London,  Liverpool, 
Manchester,  and  Birmingham  largely  fashions  the  political,  social  and 
religious  life  of  England  ; Lyons,  Paris,  and  Marseilles,  that  of  France; 
New  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  San  Francisco,  the  continent  of 
America.  They  are  cities  of  violent  contrasts  where  is  focussed  license 
and  liberty — ignorance  and  culture — poverty  and  wealth — squalor  and 
luxury — vice  and  virtue — patriotism  and  anarchy — free  institutions 
and  despotism. 

Each  country  has  its  own  dangers  arising  from  the  city  problem, 
and  each  its  own  advantages  for  dealing  with  it,  but  in  varying  con- 
ditions and  circumstances  it  is  omnipresent.  Dig  down  to  the  nether 
strata,  and  you  find  a wonderful  similarity  between  London  and  New 
York,  Paris  and  San  Francisco.  On  the  city  should  therefore  be  con- 
centrated the  best  thought  of  the  Nation  and  its  social  problems  should 
be  as  carefully  considered  as  the  deepest  questions  of  ethics  or  religion, 
and  a full  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  primal  facts  which  underlie 
it  becomes  of  surpassing  importance. 

It  is  now  for  the  first  time  occupying  such  attention,  and  there  are 
evident  signs  in  Pulpit,  Platform,  and  Press  that  both  in  its  political 
and  social  aspects  it  is  exciting  the  keenest  enquiry.  “ The  City,  its 
Sins  and  Sorrows,”  by  Dr.  Guthrie,  “ The  Bitter  Cry  of  Outcast  Lon- 
don,” and  General  Booth’s  “ Darkest  England  ” show  how  conscience 
has  been  stirred  to  its  depths;  Oxford  House  and  Toynbee  Hall,  how 
religious  thought  is  applying  itself  to  social  problems,  and  the  search- 
ing investigations  of  Charles  Booth  give  the  data  on  which  remedial 
agencies  must  be  based  in  England. 

Naturally  in  this  enquiry  in  our  own  country.  New  York  occupies 
a foremost  place,  and  here  the  question  is  further  complicated  by  the 
fact  of  its  large  alien  population,  its  thraldom  to  a disreputable  party, 

7 


8 


which  it  would  be  too  much  honor  to  call  political,  and  the  difficulty 
which  all  religious  bodies  find  in  adequately  reaching  the  poor  of  its 
most  crowded  quarters. 

It  is  too  great  a question  to  be  mastered  by  theorists,  too  wide 
and  complicated  to  be  solved  by  the  universal  panacea  of  the  doc- 
trinaire; and  needs  facts  first,  theories  second,  and  united  action  last. 


# 


AMERICAN  CITIES. 


“ With  the  opportunity , the  means , the  fit  agents,  the  motive , the  temptation  to 
destroy,  all  brought  into  evil  conjunction , then  will  come  the  real  test  of  our  institu- 
tions, then  will  appear  whether  we  are  capable  of  self-government." — Dr.  Josiah 
Strong. 

The  United  States  covers  a wide  territory.  It  has  area  enough  on 
which  to  plant  ten  times  its  present  population.  Demand  has  not  yet 
begun  to  tread  on  the  heels  of  supply,  and  yet  in  measurable  degree 
and  in  some  of  its  most  repulsive  forms  the  problem  of  the  City  is 
upon  us.  Increase  of  population  has  not  sprung  from  natural  causes. 
Growth  has  been  from  without,  not  from  within. 

In  all  cities,  but  especially  in  New  York  and  Chicago,  alien  nation- 
alities have  massed  themselves  together  in  defined  areas.  City  popula- 
tions are  therefore  in  the  main  heterogeneous,  not  homogeneous.  A 
little  over  a century  has  seen  the  expansion  of  the  thirteen  sparsely 
populated  colonies,  fringing  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  into  44 
States  and  6 Territories  covering  a continent,  and  a population  which 
within  the  same  period  of  time  has  grown  from  4,500,000  to  66,000,- 
000.  The  problem  of  national  government  is  therefore  on  a large 
and  colossal  scale.  The  Constitution  was  designed  with  wonderful 
skill  to  meet  such  a condition. 

A representative  central  authority,  combined  with  autonomy  of 
the  separate  States  of  which  it  was  composed,  gave  an  elastic  instrument 
suited  to  the  needs  of  a rapidly  growing  country,  when  an  imperial 
concentrated  authority,  even  if  desirable,  would  have  been  an  impossi- 
bility. 

The  growth  of  the  cities  has  been  in  undue  proportion  to  that  of 
the  nation,  and  with  illimitable  areas  of  fertile  land  the  trend  is  still 
from  the  country  to  the  city. 

Twelve  millions  and  a half  of  people  inhabit  100  cities  of  more  than 
30,000  souls,  and  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  entire  population  is  urban. 
The  one  failure  made  by  the  United  States  has  been  the  honest  and 
effective  government  of  large  cities.  New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  San  Francisco,  under  varying  con- 
ditions and  circumstances,  present  the  unvarying  spectacle  of  control 
by  the  most  unfit,  and  the  Irish  race  represented  by  its  professional  poli- 
ticians in  supreme  command. 


9 


10 


The  atoms  of  city  population  have  come  fortuitously  together,  and 
in  the  fierce  struggle  for  wealth,  political  control  has  been  grasped  and 
held  by  those  whose  only  motive  has  been  gain,  and  who  have  farmed 
its  municipal  offices  among  their  adherents,  fit  or  unfit,  generally  the 
latter.  Again  and  again  each  city  has  a spasm  of  indignant  virtue,  but 
the  civic  characteristic  has  been  to  “ catch  on,”  rather  than  to  “ hold  on,” 
and  the  management  of  municipal  affairs  characterized  by  brief  inter- 
vals of  virtue,  interspersed  by  long  vistas  of  vice. 

Within  the  present  year  the  Municipal  League,  in  which  all  the 
large  cities  of  the  United  States  are  represented,  has  held  a convention 
in  Philadelphia.  The  difficulties  of  the  question  were  fairly  recognized 
and  grasped,  and  one  important  and  vital  point  conceded,  that  a con- 
dition precedent  to  political  municipal  reform  was  the  severance  in 
point  of  time  between  Municipal,  State  and  National  elections.  This 
seems  an  important  first  step  for  the  true  understanding  by  the  mass 
of  the  people  of  municipal  issues,  and  the  personal  characters  and  capa- 
bilities of  the  men  who  are  its  exponents.  Granted  this  severance,  and 
the  active  intervention  of  the  best  intelligence  of  the  community,  there 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  the  ultimate  purification  of  our  cities,  and 
conditions  which  need  not  raise  a flush  of  shame  when  compared  with 
London,  Paris  or  Berlin. 


NEW  YORK:  ITS  GOVERNMENT  AND  EXPAN- 
SION. 


“ In  the  same  measure  as  the  influence  of  the  mercenary  element  dwindles,  muni- 
cipal government  will  again  become  an  attractive  field  of  endeavour  and  honour  to  men 
of  self-respect,  of  enlightened  public  spirit , and  of  noble  ambition." — Carl  Schurz. 

New  York  occupies  a superb  location,  and  when  its  possibilities 
are  more  fully  utilized  we  doubt  whether  any  city  in  the  world  has 
greater  natural  advantages  for  imperial  rule  than  the  city  which  is  at 
the  giteway  of  the  great  Western  Continent. 

Manhattan  Island  on  which  it  stands  is  twelve  miles  long,  by  two 
broad,  at  its  widest  point.  On  the  West  it  is  washed  by  a great  tidal 
river,  and  on  the  East  by  an  estuary  of  the  sea.  Its  southern  extremity  is 
bounded  by  a land  locked  bay,  affording  easy  passage  for  the  largest 
ships,  and  its  shores  give  unrivalled  accommodation  for  commerce. 
The  limitation  of  the  city  to  the  area  of  the  island  dwarfs  its  numerical 
growth,  except  at  the  cost  of  dense  overcrowding  of  the  population. 
Greater  New  York  therefore  becomes  a necessity  and  not  an  enthusi- 
ast’s dream.  With  bridges  across  the  Hudson  and  East  River — an 
underground  railway  running  the  whole  length  of  the  island,  and  mak- 
ing its  remotest  points  accessible  to  workmen  both  as  to  cost  of  time 
and  money — the  absorption  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn  into  the  municipal- 
ity of  New  York — rapid  transportation  to  Staten  Island,  admirably 
suited  as  it  is  to  semi-suburban  residence — the  extension  of  the  annexed 
district  to  Yonkers,  and  we  have  an  area  which  for  accessibility,  for 
potentiality  of  growth  in  population,  in  trade,  in  wealth  is  nowhere 
equalled. 

The  greater  New  York  of  the  future  needs  as  a starting  point  the 
honest  and  effective  government  of  the  smaller  New  York  of  the  pres- 
ent, and  no  man  will  be  optimist  enough  to  say  that  it  is  yet  more  than 
within  measurable  distance.  Its  population  of  a million  and  three  quar- 
ters needs  the  guiding  hands  of  men  accustomed  to  administer  large 
business  affairs.  It  is  a large  business  corporation,  and  needs  honesty 
and  business  ability  for  hs  control.  The  assessment  and  apportionment 
of  a taxation  amounting  to  $50,000,000,  water  supply  and  sewerage 
for  houses  and  manufactories,  paving,  cleansing  and  lighting  its 
miles  of  streets;  administration  of  law  and  prevention  and  detection  of 

11 


12 


crime;  education  and  art  facilities;  public  health  and  prevention  of 
disease;  cheap  and  rapid  transit;  charities  and  correction;  public 
parks,  and  the  administration  of  the  excise  law  are  departments  of  a 
gigantic  business  which  each  requires  the  permanent  hand  of  a skilled 
director,  sufficiently  paid  to  enlist  the  services  of  an  expert  in  each 
department,  and  whose  tenure  of  office  should  be  determined  only  by 
character,  capability  and  conduct.  The  Mayor  and  Aldermen  should 
be,  and  elsewhere  are,  representative  business  men  whose  character 
would  add  dignity  to  their  respective  offices,  and  who  would  esteem  it 
an  honor  to  serve  their  fellow-citizens.  This  purely  municipal  busi- 
ness is  inextricably  entangled  with  national  politics  with  which  it  has 
no  concern.  By  a fraudulent  manipulation  of  the  rights  of  citizenship 
and  a base  acceptance  of  the  infamous  political  doctrine  that  to  the  vic- 
tors belong  the  spoils,  Tammany  rules,  and  in  the  persons  of  four  men 
in  no  sense  representing  the  culture,  the  intelligence,  or  the  business 
capacity  of  the  people,  departments  of  the  city  government  are  filled 
by  men  whose  only  recommendation  is  their  readiness  to  pay  to  Tam- 
many a certain  liberal  percentage  of  the  salary  attached  to  the  office  and 
who  rob  their  constituents  to  obtain  it. 

Thus  a saloon-keeper  is  transferred  from  behind  the  liquor  bar  to 
the  bench  of  the  Police  Justice  with  a salary  of  $8000  a year,  another 
of  the  same  favored  fraternity  is  sent  to  represent  the  people  at  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  and  the  driver  of  a horse-car  is  made  the 
presiding  officer  over  the  Board  of  Police.  At  a time  when  municipal 
government  has  become  scientific,  and  when  the  need  is  urgent  for  the 
remodelling  of  the  tenement-house,  when  the  future  of  the  city  depends 
so  largely  on  rapid  transit,  when  our  most  scientific  method  for  the  dis- 
posal of  garbage  is  to  dump  it  within  the  easy  back  wash  of  an  incom- 
ing tide,  or  to  make  a pest-house  of  an  island  on  the  Sound,  how  ur- 
gent is  the  need  of 

I.  An  arrangement  by  which  State  and  Municipal  elections 
shall  be  held  in  alternate  years. 

II.  A combination  for  honest  Municipal  government,  ignoring 
partisan  political  issues. 

III.  The  selection  of  well-known  and  reputable  citizens. as  Mayor 

and  for  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

IV.  Open  meetings  of  the  Council  fully  reported  in  the  news- 

papers, by  which  the  people  who  pay  shall  have  some 
idea  of  how  the  money  raised  by  taxation  has  been 
and  will  be  expended. 


NEW  YORK  CITY  BELOW  FOURTEENTH 
STREET. 

“ To  make  cities — that  is  what  we  are  here  for . To  make  good  cities — that 
is  for  the  present  hour  the  main  work  of  Christianity.  For  the  city  is  strategic.  It 
makes  the  towns ; the  towns  make  the  villages;  the  villages  make  the  country . ” — Henry 
Drummond. 

There  is  in  every  city  a line  or  lines  of  demarcation  within  which 
the  population  is  roughly  graded.  Houses  old  and  lacking  sanitary  ap- 
pliances, where  the  people  are  inherently  dirty.  Poverty  which  has 
lost  the  heart  to  struggle.  Unthrift  where  scanty  wages  are  expended 
in  the  most  wasteful  way.  Families  always  on  the  ragged  edge  of 
want,  and  who  by  and  by  sink  into  the  loafer,  the  tramp,  and  the 
chronic  beggar. 

The  triangle  lying  south  of  a line  drawn  across  the  city  at  14th 
Street  will  include  the  largest  of  such  colonies.  Broadway  unevenly 
divides  it,  and  all  that  section  which  lies  between  Broadway  and  the 
East  River  is  as  purely  a missionary  region  as  China  or  India,  and 
much  more  so  than  the  new  settlements  of  the  far  West.  Noting  the 
fact  that  our  tide  of  immigration  is  world-wide;  that  it  largely  speaks 
in  a foreign  tongue;  that  it  knows  little  and  cares  less  for  the  history 
and  Constitution  of  the  country;  that  naturalization  is  fraudulent 
and  easy,  it  needs  no  argument  to  show  that  such  a foreign  body, 
massed  and  concentrated,  is  a standing  menace  and  danger  which  be- 
fore it  can  be  successfully  grappled  with  must  be  thoroughly  examined 
and  tabulated.  A few  dark  spots  with  the  shadows  deepened  to  fill 
out  the  picture,  touches  the  sympathies,  stirs  the  heart  and  stimulates 
the  conscience,  but  does  not  give  sufficient  standing  ground  for  the 
formulation  of  methods  of  improvement.  An  area  is  needed  for  investi- 
gation sufficiently  large  to  form  a basis  for  argument  and  action.  A 
section  which  is  neither  the  best  nor  the  worst  of  our  city  life,  and 
within  which  shall  be  carried  out  a house-to-house  enquiry  covering 
nationality,  home  surroundings,  occupation,  income,  hours  of  labor, 
rooms,  rental,  creed,  sanitary  and  moral  environment,  carefully  and 
honestly  examined  would  give  us  at  least  the  data  on  which  to  base 
remedial  plans. 

For  many  years  the  city  below  14th  Street  has  shown  special  charac- 

13 


14 


teristics.  Ignoring  the  part  lying  to  the  right  and  left  of  Broadway,  and 
the  streets  in  which  are  concentrated  the  business  energies  which  have 
made  New  York  one  of  the  great  centres  of  speculation  and  trade,  we 
have  a series  of  intricate  streets  with  old  world  names,  in  which  the 
population  is  more  concentrated  than  that  of  London  or  Paris,  and  in 
which  the  tenement  reigns  supreme. 

It  is  a conglomeration  of  all  nationalities,  shifting  and  changeable, 
but  in  particular  sections  one  or  other  nationality  is  always  dominant. 
It  would  not  be  difficult  to  color  a map  showing  where  the  Jew,  the 
Italian,  the  Bohemian,  the  Slav  and  the  Polak  was  the  dominant  race. 

This  adds  greatly  to  the  difficulty  with  which  religious  or  social 
enterprises  are  conducted.  There  is  no  lever  and  no  fulcrum.  Add 
to  the  ordinary  nomadic  character  of  the  population  the  fact  that  it  is 
the  headquarters  of  numerous  caravansaries,  called  hotels,  where  fifty 
to  one  hundred  men  are  nightly  housed  at  a cost  of  ten,  fifteen,  twenty 
or  twenty-five  cents,  according  to  grade,  and  the  difficulty  is  by  so 
much  increased  and  intensified. 

Add  to  this  the  mass  of  householders  who  can  only  or  best  be 
reached  by  men  of  their  own  race  and  language,  but  who  are  not  easily 
obtained,  and  it  can  readily  be  seen  how  difficult  the  work  of  evangeli- 
zation becomes.  We  have  to  deal  with  men  in  masses  who  have  been 
absorbed  but  not  assimilated.  Assuming  the  fact  that  environment  is 
as  large,  or  a larger  factor  in  the  moulding  of  character  than  heredity, 
it  is  well  for  us  to  know  what  are  their  surroundings  with  a view  to  de- 
termine whether  a root  and  branch  reform  is  necessary,  or  whether  the 
strain  will  be  eased  by  a diminution  of  the  causes  from  which  it  sprung. 


ST.  AUGUSTINE’S  CURE,  TRINITY  PARISH,  NEW 

YORK. 


“ The  first  requisite  for  steady  and  continuous  work  is  full  knowledge  of  the 
facts , and  / trust  that  some  combined  endeavor  will  be  made  with  as  little  delay  as  pos- 
sible to  ascertain  in  detail  the  facts  as  to  the  housing  of  the  poor  in  the  Diocese  of 
Durham.  I do  not  ask  the  clergy  to  undertake  these  wide  enquiries.  They  are  already 
overburdened.  But  I ask  that  they  invite  the  laity  to  undertake  them.” — The 
Bishop  of  Durham’s  Charge  to  the  Clergy. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  it  was  considered 
desirable  to  take  as  our  unit  the  parish,  rather  than  the  ward  or  elec- 
tion district.  Our  desire  was  not  bounded  by  the  wish  to  obtain 
accurate  knowledge,  but  that  knowledge  being  obtained,  that  the  incum- 
bent might  have  at  hand  and  ready  for  reference  the  schedules  covering 
each  block  in  his  parish,  numerically  arranged,  so  that  with  the  least 
trouble  he  could  refer  to  any  particular  family  or  the  tenant  of  any 
particular  house,  and  if  the  individual  family  was  of  so  migratory  a 
character  that  such  schedules  ceased  to  be  personally  correct,  it  at 
least  followed  that  the  general  character  of  the  block  should  be  known. 
The  Episcopal  City  Mission  a few  years  ago  divided  the  city  into  arbi- 
trary parochial  areas,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  information  which 
would  obviate  the  duplication  of  parochial  visits,  and  yet  guarantee  that 
no  one  should  be  beyond  the  reach  of  definite  spiritual  guidance  when 
they  desired  or  needed  it. 

Trinity  Corporation  has  been  the  largest  factor  in  the  evangelistic 
work  of  the  lower  section  of  the  city.  Its  down-town  churches  have 
not  been  turned  into  theatres  or  car  stables  when  the  changing  char- 
acter of  the  population  or  the  drying-up  of  outside  sustentation  or 
support  made  it  no  longer  possible  to  financially  sustain  the  parish. 
The  present  church  on  Houston  Street  was  built  20  years  ago.  It  was  in 
the  midst  of  a large  English-speaking  population.  It  contained  all  the 
appliances  necessary  for  the  work  of  such  a parish.  A church  edifice 
capable  of  seating  870  people,  with  lecture-room,  Sunday-school  rooms, 
work-rooms,  and  residence  for  the  minister  and  staff.  The  conditions 
have  largely  changed  with  the  passing  years.  As  the  Jew  came  in  the 
Gentile  departed,  and  the  population  is  now  largely  Jewish  and  Italian. 

Congregations  are  farther  to  seek  and  harder  to  find  within  a lim- 
ited area  circle.  Notwithstanding  this,  it  is  the  work  which  calls  for 
the  ablest  and  most  self-denying  men,  and  the  first  thought  of  his  work- 
ing life  should  be  that  men  have  bodies  as  well  as  souls  and  that  the 
need  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  a Christianity  wisely  applied.  Select- 

15  , 


cxrvCbc. 


Wmteten 


'Bums.  \ 


/o 


// 


3 

* 4 

> 

? 

5T 

/£ 

1 t 

1 - 
1 ^ 

sr  S’ 

The  crosses  show  the  position 
of  Churches. 


17 


ing  this  as  our  area  of  work  we  drew  up  the  following  schedules  cov- 
ering the  scope  of  our  enquiries  : 

SURNAME. 


FAMILY  SCHEDULE, 


| Block  No. 

1 

Street  Name. 

Street  No. 

Dwelling. 

Business. 

Ij 

1 Tenement  Front.  1 

I 1 

Tenement  Rear. 

j 1 

J On  what  Story. 

No.  of  Family  in 

Order. 

No.  of  House  in 

Order. 

Closets. 

Water. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

■ 

8 

L 

9 

10 

Relationship 
to  head . 

Mar.  Cond. 

I 

sex. 

Age. 

Color. 

! 

Birth  Place. 

Father’s 
Birth  Place. 

Mother’s 

Birth  Place. 

Occupation. 

— 

Weekly 

Earnings. 

Work  Hours 

per  Day. 

_ 

work  Hours  ' 

Sunday. 

Steadiness  of 
Employment 
in  Months. 

No.  of  Rooms 

“l 

Rent  per 

Month. 

i 

Income  from 

Lodgers  in 
Weeks. 

1 

Length  of 

Residence. 

Relig.  Belief. 

1 

| 

Soberness. 

Circum- 

stances^^ 

Thrift. 


.Visitor. 


18 


Enumerators  and  Tabulators. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  preceding  schedule  covered  the  fol- 
lowing general  lines  of  investigation: 

Family. 

Occupation  (skilled  and  unskilled). 

Wages. 

Hours  of  labor. 

Rooms. 

Rentals. 

Creed. 

Social  and  sanitary  conditions. 

Agencies  (bad  and  good). 

Many  of  the  enquiries  were  of  an  exceedingly  delicate  character. 
The  replies  to  be  useful  must  necessarily  be  full  and  true,  and  yet  they 
were  entirely  unofficial  and  voluntary.  We  selected  eight  women  as 
enumerators,  to  each  of  whom  we  gave  the  following  circular  of  instruc- 
tion. 

New  York,  June,  1894. 

“ Dear  Madam : 

“ The  drift  of  population  is  to  large  cities.  The  conditions  of 
those  cities  produce  high  rentals,  overcrowding,  sickness  and  suffering. 
No  improvement  can  be  effectively  carried  out  without  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  facts.  It  is  our  desire  to  collect  such  facts  for  no  political,, 
sectarian  or  personal  advantage,  but  for  the  public  good.  You  will 
therefore  wait  upon  each  family  in  the  block  bounded  by  Broadway 
and  Essex  Street,  Fifth  Street  and  Canal,  and  courteously  and  politely 
ask  information  on  the  points  mentioned  in  this  schedule. 

“ Please  assure  the  inmates  that  the  information  obtained  will  be 
used  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  promote  the  well-being  of  the  com- 
munity. 

“ Yours  faithfully, 

“Henry  Y.  Satterlee, 
“Chairman  of  the  Social  Statistics  Committee.” 

It  was  necessary  that  the  enumerators  should  be  courteous,  intel- 
ligent and  careful,  and  that  they  should  possess  the  intuitive  discrimi- 
nation which  would  enable  them  to  detect  fraudulent  statements,  espe- 
cially in  regard  to  wages.  Following  closely  on  a time  of  great  finan- 
cial depression  and  consequent  paralysis  of  trade  involving  wide  dis- 
tress and  the  disbursement  of  large  sums  in  charity,  they  were  espe- 
cially instructed  to  state  that  there  was  no  question  of  alms  behind  the 


19 


enquiry,  but  simply  facts  relating  to  conditions  of  life  and  how  they 
might  be  modified  and  improved. 

As  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  unable  to  speak  or  understand 
the  English  language  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  boys  from  the  public 
schools  as  interpreters.  The  people  were  uniformly  courteous,  and 
those  whom  we  employed  as  enumerators  had  no  complaint  to  make  of 
their  reception.  Beyond  an  evident  desire  to  lessen  the  amount  of 
their  earnings,  we  think  their  statements  to  our  enumerators  are  fairly 
reliable.  The  most  important  point  in  the  investigation  is  that  it  was 
not  a selection  of  the  worst  houses  of  a slum  quarter,  but  covered  every 
block,  house,  tenement,  and  family,  and  left  the  reader  to  draw  his  own 
conclusions  from  the  data  given  as  to  the  conditions,  sanitary,  moral 
and  religious,  of  the  area  covered. 

To  each  enumerator  was  given  the  charge  of  one  block,  and  the 
schedules  were  handed  in  by  her  daily,  and  after  being  examined,  were 
duly  filed.  When  a block  was  completed  it  was  backed  by  a stiff  card 
containing  a map  with  marked  block  and  condensation  of  all  the  infor- 
mation contained  therein.  The  tabulation  of  these  schedules  was  a 
work  of  great  labor.  Large  sheets  were  prepared  and  divided  longi- 
tudinally into  the  different  sections  of  enquiry,  each  family  or  tenement 
occupying  a line  on  the  sheet.  The  addition  of  these  and  their  manip- 
ulation gave  the  results  which  will  be  found  in  the  further  chapters  of 
this  pamphlet. 

The  German  Quarter. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  the  parish  of  St.  Augustine’s  was  selected 
was  that  it  was  large,  densely  populated,  and  contained  three  clearly 
defined  national  quarters,  viz.:  German,  Jewish,  and  Italian.  We 
therefore  divided  our  enquiry  into  these  three  sections  and  commenced 
with  the  least  sharply  defined,  the  German. 

It  consists  of  fifteen  blocks  lying  between  the  Bowery  and  Avenue 
A,  Fifth  Street  and  E.  Houston.  Noting  the  fact  that  there  are  a larger 
number  of  native  than  foreign  born,  it  may  be  well  to  state  that  in  this 
investigation  all  children  born  in  this  country  are  counted  native, 
though  their  parentage  and  home  surroundings  may  be  foreign.  We 
do  it  to  emphasize  the  fact,  that  this  is  the  material  out  of  which  it  is 
our  duty  and  our  privilege  to  mould  and  fashion  the  intelligent  Ameri- 
can citizen  of  the  near  future. 


German  Quarter. 


21 


We  give  five  schedules  covering  the  main  lines  of  our  enquiry,  as 
follows: 


German  Quarter. 

Location:  Homes  and  Families. 


, 

Houses. 

Families  (Num  ber  of). 

Blocks. 

Tenement. 

I 

Total 

Population. 

Dwell. 

Front. 

Rear. 

Parents. 

j Sons. 

Daughters 

Lodgers. 

I 

35 

1 1 

... 

284 

109 

198 

135 

726 

2 

40 

3i 

692 

312 

261 

. 52 

I 317 

3 

78 

3 

917 

423 

307 

42  I 

1,689 

4 

39 

45 

337 

113 

90 

IOO 

640 

5 

2 

58 

9 

792 

348 

330 

3°3 

i 773 

6 

53 

4 

861 

368 

339 

117 

1,685 

7 

4i 

87 

39 

29 

186 

34i 

8 

20 

29 

1 

488 

171 

171 

141 

97i 

9 

19 

4i 

8 

797 

387 

318 

195  j 

1.697 

IO  1 

59 

I98 

88 

80 

54 

420 

ii 

9 

38' 

7 

6°3 

290 

262 

67 

1,222 

12 

1 1 

48 

7 

471 

263 

233 

147  1 

1,114 

J3  ; 

22 

19 

2 

238 

1 19 

hi 

43  i 

5“ 

14 

13 

55  | 

7 

739 

334 

334 

164  j 

I.57I 

i5 

57 

333 

170 

1 75 

36 

714 

Totals. 

270 

572 

79 

7.837 

3.534 

3.238 

1,782 

16,391 

German  Quarter. 

Rooms. 


Blocks. 

> C 

Number  of  Families  who  Occupy 

1 

Total 

Families. 

0 
>-<  0 

<U  Sj 

> K 

O 

Five. 

Four. 

Three. 

Two. 

One. 

12 

12 

15 

8 

1 1 

3 

61 

2 

32 

14 

88 

150 

5i 

1 

336 

3 

37 

22 

127 

128 

166 

2 

482 

4 

10 

6 

48 

67 

28 

159 

5 

14 

28 

80 

202 

58 

382 

6 

9 

2 

1 66 

67 

201 

'1 

446 

7 

29 

6 

2 

7 

2 

46 

8 

35 

15 

25 

178 

J4 

267 

9 

42 

3i 

hi 

1 12 

146 

442 

10 

2 

15 

49 

26 

92 

1 1 

1 1 

• 35 

82 

162 

38 

328 

12 

42 

26 

49 

101 

9 

15 

242 

13 

4 

1 1 

42 

28 

29 

1 

ii5 

H 

11 

29 

136 

80 

105 

2 

363 

15 

18 

25 

18 

68 

43 

9 

181 

Totals. 

308 

262 

1 ,004  | 

1.407 

92  7 

34 

3.942 

22 


German  Quarter. 

Rentals. 


Average  Monthly  Rentals  paid  by  Families  Occupying 


Blocks. 

Over  Five 
Rooms. 

Five 

Rooms. 

Four 

Rooms. 

Three 

Rooms. 

Two 

Rooms. 

One 

Room. 

i 

$70 

50 

$25  83 

$22 

93 

$15 

00 

$ 9 

65 

$••• 

2 

52 

06 

29 

00 

16 

47 

16 

39 

7 

33 

3 

36 

00 

18 

95 

21 

57 

1 1 

85 

8 

35 

3 

5° 

4 

65 

00 

28 

00 

21 

25 

15 

13 

8 

85 

5 

32 

95 

26 

38 

19 

72 

12 

08 

80 

6 

29 

00 

40 

50 

16 

00 

1 5 

42 

7 

5 

25 

7 

65 

13 

35 

5o 

27 

5° 

25 

55 

30 

00 

8 

53 

60 

23 

07 

17 

46 

11 

3i 

7 

76 

9 

46 

73 

23 

00 

15 

29 

1 1 

86 

5 

33 

7 

00 

IO 

17 

00 

9 

80 

7 

65 

1 1 

43 

25 

25 

20 

16 

5° 

1 1 

45 

7 

57 

12 

36 

84 

23 

65 

13 

54 

1 1 

42 

8 

25 

2 

64 

13 

43 

34 

24 

80 

16 

28 

J3 

56 

9 

60 

15 

00 

14 

43 

50 

21 

58 

16 

22 

1 1 

60 

8 

28 

1 

50 

i5 

37 

59 

20 

95 

>5 

26 

1 1 

75 

8 

54 

3 

13 

Total. 

$655  49 

$366  41 

$272  99 

$204  17 

$134  66 

$38 

02 

Average 

Rental. 

$46  82 

$26 

1 7 

$18 

19 

$13  61 

$9  62 

$5  43 

German  Quarter. 

Nationalities. 


Blocks. 

1 

Native. 

German. 

Russian 
and  Polish 
Jews. 

Irish. 

British. 

Italian. 

Miscel. 

Europeans 

Total. 

1 

294 

229 

10 

14 

9 

19 

152 

726 

2 

608 

619 

27 

18 

7 

14 

23 

1,317 

3 

714 

767 

! 149 

12 

5 

42 

1,639 

4 

308 

203 

26 

18 

7 

3 

15 

640 

5 

876 

682 

66 

69 

12 

10 

58 

1 773 

6 

764 

644 

158 

16 

7 

2 

94 

1,685 

7 

IOI 

142 

2 

1 

95 

34i 

8 

409 

43i 

13 

37 

12 

1 

68 

971 

9 

737 

783 

8 

4 

3 

3 

159 

1,697 

10 

199 

99 

16 

45 

26 

19 

16 

420 

11 

690 

454 

20 

2 7 

10 

6 

15 

1.222 

12 

534 

477 

9 

5 

7 

3 

79 

1,114 

*3 

250 

192 

4 

25 

15 

17 

8 

5i  1 

14 

737 

523 

27 

35 

14 

45 

190 

i,57i 

*5 

328 

286 

32 

4 

1 

12 

5i 

714 

Totals. 

7,609 

6.531 

' 565 

331 

135 

1 155 

1 065 

16,391 

23 


German  Quarter. 

Creeds. 


Blocks. 

.c 

— 

£ 

Roman 

Catholic. 

j Lutheran. 

Protestant 
| Episcopal. 

Other 

Protestant 

Bodies. 

Unknown. 

Total. 

i 

135 

166 

162 

27 

79 

157 

726 

o 

244 

207 

794 

55 

i5 

2 

I.3I7 

3 

1 16 

478 

7i4 

3°° 

44 

37 

1.689 

4 

35 

217 

79 

7 2 

124 

1 r3 

640 

5 

206 

515 

654 

>23 

74 

206 

1.778 

6 

90 

737 

37i 

302 

124 

61 

1,685 

7 

42 

18 

84 

8 

15 

168 

34i 

8 

88 

238 

539 

72 

18 

16 

971 

9 

48 

820 

669 

45 

24 

9i 

1,697 

IO 

20 

212 

56 

14 

35 

83 

420 

1 1 

153 

405 

463 

81 

17 

103 

1 222 

12 

194 

282 

366 

9i 

156 

20 

1,109 

13 

98 

176 

1 1 5 

58 

28 

36 

5ii 

14 

104 

369 

3i7 

3r4 

86 

38i 

1. 571 

15 

137 

201 

8S 

241 

17 

30 

7H 

Total. 

1,710 

5,041 

1 5.471 

1.803 

856 

1 1,510 

16.391 

24 


Jewish  Quarter. 

We  do  not  see  how  a Christian  man  can  look  comtemptuously  on 
the  Jews.  Their  history,  their  literature,  and  their  intense  nationality 
command  respect.  The  unlovely  traits  of  character  developed  by 
centuries  of  injustice,  and  by  being  crowded  out  of  the  ordinary  avo- 
cations of  life,  call  for  compassion  and  regret  rather  than  scorn.  Re- 
membering the  extreme  ceremonial  of  their  creed,  with  its  washings 
and  ablutions,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  their  personal  uncleanliness. 
In  the  part  of  the  city  now  under  consideration  nearly  50  per  cent,  of 
the  population  are  Russian,  German,  or  Polish  Jews.  The  names  and 
signs  on  the  stores  are  Jewish — the  black  hair,  dark  skin  and  promi- 
nent features  are  Jewish — the  keen,  alert  look  is  that  of  the  Jew.  We 
enquired  of  an  Israelite  of  well-known  charity  and  benevolence,  how 
the  personal  uncleanliness  of  the  Jew  could  be  accounted  for.  He 
replied,  “You  have  been  brought  into  contact  mainly  with  the  Russian 
Jew,  resident  in  New  York  a few  months  or  years.  He  has  lived  under 
a despotism,  where  the  hand  of  the  police  might  be  upon  him  without 
cause,  and  his  trial,  if  tried  at  all,  might  be  without  justice.  Such  a 
man  shrinks  within  himself,  feels  small,  looks  small,  and  gets  into  small 
quarters,  where  he  ceases  to  have  aspirations  for  sunlight,  or  desire  for 
soap  and  water.  An  extraordinary  man  will  rise  above  the  level  of  his 
circumstances — the  ordinary  man  will  sink  below  them/’ 

By  degrees  the  Jews  have  ousted  the  Gentiles  from  the  block 
bounded  by  Houston,  Essex,  Hester,  and  the  Bowery.  They  are  poor,, 
ignorant  and  strangers.  No  tradition  prevents  “ dog  rob  dog,”  and  you 
therefore  find  a large  proportion  employed  in  sweating  shops  by  their  own 
people,  working  in  filth,  at  starvation  wages.  Pedlars,  street  venders, 
and  slop  tailors  (men  and  women)  form  the  staple  of  the  population, 
and  singularly  enough,  although  the  Jew  is  abstemious,  the  number  of 
liquor  dealers  remains  undiminished. 


0O  wE.  KY 


Jewish  Quarter. 


E HOUSTON 


<ST 


ST 


ST 


ST 


BROOME. 


ST 


6RAN/J5 


S T 


,£1 


H£  ST  fa 


LUDLOW  ST 


Jewish  Quarter. 

Location:  Homes  and  Families. 


Houses.  Families  (Number  of). 


Blocks. 

Dwel- 

lings. 

Tenement. 

Parents. 

i Sons. 

Daugh- 

ters. 

Lodgers 

Total 

Popula- 

tion. 

Front. 

Rear. 

16 

12 

29 

2 

34i 

160 

161 

64 

726 

1 7 

4 

6 

60 ; 

240 

184 

45 

1.074 

18 

32 

705 

407 

33i 

73 

1 516 

i9 

3 

36 

3 

585 

347 

33i 

92 

L355 

20 

7 

37 

4 

569 

310 

278 

113 

1 270 

2 I 

1 

4i 

5 

685 

1 408 

380 

203 

1 676 

22 

39 

1 

744 

520 

450 

82 

1,796 

23 

25 

24 

5 

372 

166 

154 

37 

729 

24 

2 

42 

4 

441 

222 

201 

34 

898 

25 

13 

28 

8 

530 

266 

236 

122 

1. 154 

26 

23 

29 

5 

580 

323 

308 

124 

i-335 

27 

20 

16 

452 

3i5 

303 

53 

1. 123 

28 

4 

53 

7 

795 

527 

369 

86 

1.777 

29 

45 

59i 

367 

327 

82 

i,3  67 

3° 

22 

14 

5 

3i9 

172 

143 

84 

718 

31 

1 1 

32 

5 

695 

376 

339 

122 

L532 

32 

6 

45 

8 

783 

397 

436 

160 

1,776 

33 

48 

368 

192 

177 

59 

7 96 

34 

3 

40 

1 

55i 

34i 

323 

57 

1,272 

35 

16 

1 7 

4i5 

267 

257 

54 

993 

36 

3 

35 

1 

6 r 1 

384 

3i5 

229 

L539 

37 

26 

8 

3 

1 18 

62 

60 

266 

506 

38 

44 

5 

509 

251 

252 

5° 

1,062 

39 

1 

42 

8 

733 

362 

402 

179 

1 676 

40 

37 

1 

800 

536 

39° 

1 18 

1,844 

4i 

6 

33 

6 

445 

3i9 

340 

67 

1,171 

42 

13 

46 

867 

544 

494 

104 

2,009 

43 

3 

37 

626 

439 

378 

43 

1,486 

44 

15 

18 

4 

214 

92 

103 

34 

443 

45 

15 

20 

496 

236 

242 

76 

1,050 

46  1 

3 

29 

2 

264 

129 

139 

73 

605 

47 

12 

21 

4 

347 

147 

140 

58 

692 

48 

7 

88 

27 

218 

162 

1 15 

1 1 1 

606 

49 

92 

13 

384 

259 

253 

57 

953 

50 

42 

27 

135 

95 

85 

9 

324 

5i 

2 

100 

29 

221 

1 10 

68 

25 

424 

52 

1 1 

159 

81 

54i 

410 

251 

3IQ 

1,512 

53 

1 

251 

75 

582 

468 

41 1 

118 

1.579 

54 

3 

188 

106 

557 

379 

345 

3i 

1312 

55 

1 

242 

46 

522 

365 

340 

63 

1,290 

56 

180 

10 

374 

349 

292 

5i 

1,066 

57 

222 

44 

509 

379 

360 

79 

1.327 

Totals. 

294 

2.587 

1 

L 1 

!$  j 

2 1 , 1 99 

12.800 

11.463 

3897 

49.359 

27 


Jewish  Quarter. 

Rooms. 


Blocks. 

Number  of  Families  Who  Occupy 

Total 

Families. 

Over  Five 
Rooms. 

Five 

Rooms. 

Four 

Rooms. 

Three 

Rooms. 

Two 

Rooms. 

One 

Room. 

16 

12 

10 

30 

102 

25 

1 

180 

1 7 

10 

1 

29 

25 

223 

2 

290 

18 

14 

3 

45 

50 

106 

2 

220 

i9 

1 1 

10 

5i 

145 

76 

8 

301 

20 

7 

15 

IOI 

61  | 

IOI 

12 

297 

2 [ 

7 

5 

75 

120 

155 

2 

364 

22 

8 

5 

92 

1*5 

1 10 

400 

23 

7 

12 

55 

84 

46 

2 

196 

24 

12 

11 

52 

96 

4i 

3 

215 

25 

9 

i5 

62 

81 

93 

1 

261 

26 

24 

28 

15 

202 

62 

20 

33i 

27 

9 

31 

77 

I l6 

5 

1 

239 

28 

8 

4 

86 

106 

236 

1 

44i 

29 

8 

13 

68 

149 

60 

7 

605 

30 

1 1 

5 

35 

69 

38 

11 

169 

31 

8 

7 

54 

226 

76 

1 

372 

32 

11 

1 1 

88 

1 18 

168 

7 

403 

33 

27 

8 

18 

59 

78 

22 

212 

34 

10 

4 

58 

138 

j 67 

6 

283 

35 

15 

10 

38 

109 

47 

7 

226 

36 

8 

1 

47 

i59 

83 

4 

302 

37 

1 

1 

26 

1 1 

7 

1 

47 

38 

10 

6 

57 

93 

74 

7 

247 

39 

8 

10 

1 18 

160 

92 

8 

396 

40 

10 

4 

61 

150 

146 

1 

372 

41 

7 

7 

36 

221 

150 

4 

425 

42 

7 

5 

55 

1 15 

39 

1 1 

232 

43 

8 

4 

7i 

145 

78 

19 

325 

44 

5 

1 

10 

78 

18 

14 

126 

45 

9 

2 

54 

82 

122 

269 

46 

*3 

7 

13 

79 

1 7 

129 

47 

7 

6 

25 

32 

122 

2 

194 

48 

12 

1 

25 

38 

36 

1 12 

49 

2 

15 

19 

140 

8 

184 

50 

1 

1 

4 

27 

25 

5 

63 

51 

8 

1 

5 

15 

82 

hi 

52 

2 

4 

43 

44 

180 

1 

274 

53 

3 

6 

37 

1 1 1 

122 

1 

280 

54 

33 

68 

188 

1 

290 

55 

3 

1 

H 

48 

167 

233 

56 

1 

2 

7 

80 

95 

1 

186 

57 

2 

4 

4 

97 

135 

242 

Totals. 

355 

297 

1.893 

4.234 

3-799 

196 

10774 

28 


Jewish  Quarter. 

Rentals. 


Average  Monthly  Rentals  Paid  by  Families  Occupying 


Blocks. 

Over  Five 
Rooms. 

Five 

Rooms. 

Four 

Rooms. 

Three 

Rooms. 

T wo 
Rooms. 

One 

1 Room. 

16 

$54  67 

$19  33 

$15  87 

$12  77 

$7  25 

$ 

1 7 

36  25 

25  00 

15  74 

10  68 

8 51 

18 

41  00 

26  50 

16  22 

16  06 

9 07 

7 00 

19 

54  00 

17  00 

20  21 

13  86 

12  53 

3 70 

20 

48  50 

19  40 

14  96 

11  87 

8 43 

3 57 

21 

23  80 

22  10 

13  56 

12  60 

8 03 

3 75 

22 

30  25 

27  50 

14  08 

11  38 

8 07 

23 

35  00 

18  80 

15  37 

13  56 

9 4o 

.... 

24 

5o  34 

19  29 

14  29 

it  17 

8 62 

5 00 

25 

35  00 

23  84 

1 7 32 

12  64 

8 31 

26 

53  25 

24  00 

13  40 

6 90 

7 65 

27 

36  25 

20  00 

17  21 

13  37 

: 

28 

39  00 

23  67 

14  82 

1 1 41 

7 97 

29 

27  37 

19  05 

14  12 

10  97 

8 21 

30 

65  00 

15  OO 

12  30 

7 68 

3i 

19  30 

14  68 

11  52 

8 10 

32 

31  00 

19  28 

15  11 

12  72 

8 26 

6 60 

33 

32  25 

13  34 

1 7 5° 

it  56 

8 67 

3 36 

34 

25  80 

21  67 

16  62 

11  73 

8 62 

.... 

35 

29  14 

23  12 

i5  37 

11  86 

9 4i 

36 

37 

44  00 

1 7 46 

17  00 

12  29 

10  46 

8 68 

6 43 

38 

26  60  1 

19  67 

16  47 

13  33 

8 38 

5 67 

39 

58  80 

23  50  l 

16  88 

12  90 

8 42 

40 

50  00 

16  00 

15  05 

11  71 

8 80 

4i 

30  00 

23  20 

15  94  | 

n 97 

8 58 

.... 

42 

22  00 

25  00 

15  82 

12  35 

8 16 

5 33 

43 

29  25 

20  67 

16  03 

11  98 

9 28 

3 00 

44 

33  33  I 

16  87 

12  89 

9 35 

45 

40  00 

17  63 

12  83 

8 71 

46 

51  60 

28  00 

1 7 50 

12  18 

8 42 

47 

23  00 

18  20 

12  50 

8 29 

48 

83  78 

14  00 

14  30 

12  12 

10  88 

49 

21  40 

16  65 

12  38 

5 5° 

4 60 

5° 

25  00 

21  00  ! 

20  75 

12  82 

4 44 

5i 

102  50 

20  00 

17  00  1 

12  23 

7 95 

52 

43  50 

26  25 

13  65 

7 75 

4 00 

3 00 

53 

27  00 

22  83 

14  05 

11  54 

7 59 

4 00 

54 

55 



64  55 

25  00 

9 82 

13  78 

8 95 

12  60 

7 98 

5 77 

4 00 

5 00 

56 

70  00 

2 7 25 

19  14 

1 1 80 

8 48 

4 00 

57 

40  00 

24  50  j 

19  00 

10  18 

8 25 

5 09 

Totals 

$i,594  81  1 

$783  46 

$670  44 

$500  69 

$335  13 

$76  67 

Average 

Rentals. 

$30  67 

$15  36 

$11  76 

$8  78 

$5  98  1 

$4  5i 

29 


Jewish  Quarter. 

Nationalities. 


Blocks. 

Native. 

German. 

Russian, 
Polish,  and 
German 
Jews. 

Irish. 

1 

British. 

Italian. 

Miscel. 

Europeans. 

1 

Total. 

16 

244 

108 

203 

28 

4 

72 

67 

726 

17 

437 

1 12 

216 

9 

32 

268 

1 074 

18 

717 

508 

462 

57 

36 

1 1 

25 

1.516 

19 

279 

102 

850 

1 1 

16 

35 

62 

1 *355 

20 

504 

328 

248 

1 1 

22 

1 1 

146 

1 270 

21 

578 

122 

782 

6 

8 

12 

168 

1 ,676 

22 

867 

291 

611 

7 

20 

1,796 

23 

356 

208 

73 

i5 

3 

63 

11 

729 

24 

394 

179 

282 

13 

8 

18 

4 

898 

25 

398 

97 

475 

10 

10 

10 

J54 

U54 

26 

43  8 

323 

456 

12 

7 

25 

74 

1 *33  5 

27 

564 

74 

426 

5 

20 

1 

33 

1,123 

28 

734 

278 

725 

9 

10 

21 

1.777 

29 

535 

126 

501 

2 

19 

15 

169 

1.367 

30 

225 

104 

3T4 

21 

5 

19 

30 

718 

3 1 

674 

269 

469 

3i 

1 

14 

74 

1.532 

32 

439 

74 

962 

25 

26 

6 

244 

1 776 

33 

231 

88 

393 

30 

9 

14 

28 

796 

34 

446 

102 

473 

4 

19 

3 

22  5 

1.272 

35 

323 

139 

330 

8 

7 

1 

185 

993 

36 

432 

56 

762 

7 

12 

13 

257 

1 *539 

37 

166 

58 

1 1 

7 

4 

6 

254 

506 

38 

373 

1 1 8 

288 

1 7 

7 

27 

232 

1,062 

39 

355 

140 

1 1 12 

18 

16 

7 

28 

1,676 

40 

82  7 

304 

687 

7 

3 

16 

1,844 

4f 

34^ 

27 

614 

10 

35 

144 

1,171 

42 

564 

100 

1073 

11 

25 

9 

227 

2,009 

43 

447 

81 

728 

4 

10 

12 

204 

1,486 

44 

121 

14Q 

102 

33 

11 

10 

17 

443 

45 

366 

188 

370 

16 

1 

20 

89 

1,050 

46 

218 

47 

226 

3 

1 

1 

109 

605 

47 

279 

136 

193 

3i 

10 

6 

37 

692 

48 

228 

16 

349 

5 

4 

4 

606 

49 

323 

27 

584 

2 

1 

16 

953 

5o 

95 

10 

204 

6 

9 

324 

5i 

J57 

33 

191 

10 

2 

1 

30 

424 

52 

483 

22 

953 

15 

1 

1 

37 

1. 512 

53 

429 

33 

933 

16 

3 

165 

R579 

54 

439 

5 

801 

19 

8 

40 

1,312 

55 

329 

23 

767 

4 

7 

160 

1 290 

56 

275 

694 

2 

6 

89 

1,066 

57 

294 

5 

850 

2 

15 

23 

138 

1.327 

Totals. 

16,927 

5 210 

21.443 

553 

404 

512 

4»3TO  1 

49.359 

30 


Jewish  Quarter. 

Creeds. 


Blocks. 

| Jewish. 

| Roman 

Catholic. 

Lutheran. 

Protestant 

Episcopal. 

1 

Other 

Protestant 

Bodies. 

c 

£ 

0 

c 

c 

Total. 

16 

282 

231 

108 

1 18 

8 

79 

726 

1 7 

357 

261 

112 

j 136 

65 

143 

1,074 

1 8 

394 

52 

508 

54 

16 

23 

1,516 

19 

786 

3i7 

102 

63 

26 

61 

1-355 

20 

453 

187 

328 

i io3 

18 

181 

1.270 

21 

1.231 

184 

122 

121 

7 

1 1 

1.676 

22 

1 180 

262 

291 

60 

3 

1,796 

23 

225 

248 

208 

7 

1 

40 

729 

24 

366 

85 

179 

62 

63 

H3 

898 

25 

593 

127 

97 

i 72 

20 

245 

M54 

26 

888 

84 

323 

5 

3 

32 

B335 

27 

961 

46 

74 

1 7 

H 

14 

1,123 

28 

1 239 

242 

278 

5 

10 

3 

i,777 

29 

939 

86 

126 

133 

3 

80 

1,367 

3° 

361 

112 

104 

5 

3 

133 

718 

31 

1,015 

175 

269 

1 33 

7 

33 

1 532 

32 

1 439 

107 

74 

23 

39 

94 

1 776 

33 

490 

135 

88 

18 

22 

43 

796 

34 

971 

6 7 

102 

36 

15 

81 

1,272 

35 

807 

39 

139 

.... 

8 

993 

36 

1,348 

55 

56 

32 

9 

39 

B539 

37 

40 

46 

58  [ 

27 

22 

3i3 

506 

38 

699 

134 

118 

46 

9 

56 

1.062 

39 

1,426 

86 

140 

12 

1 1 

1 

1,676 

40 

1,266 

246 

304 

6 

16 

6 

1,844 

4i 

97i 

43 

2 7 

7 

32 

9i 

1,171 

42 

1,749 

72 

100 

29 

12 

47 

2,009 

43 

i,353 

36 

81 

6 

10 

1,486 

44 

185 

87 

149. 

4 

1 1 

7 

443 

45 

644 

157 

188 

H 

20 

27 

1,050 

46 

466 

40 

47 

17 

13 

22 

605 

47 

305 

160 

136 

2 

34 

55 

692 

48 

520 

59 

16 

4 

7 

606 

49 

906 

11 

27 

1 

4 

4 

953 

50 

297 

7 

10 

7 

3 

324 

5i 

253 

1 10 

33 

3 

25 

424 

52 

1,270  ! 

196 

22 

1 

5 

18 

1,512 

53 

B39I 

64 

33 

3 

88 

1.579 

54 

r,i75 

44 

5 

4 

7 

77 

1 312 

55 

M99 

8 

23 

7 

53 

1,290 

56 

1,020  . 

5 

7 

34 

1,066 

57 

1,280 

2 

5 

40 

1.327 

Totals. 

34  740 

5,184 

5,210 

1,194 

63~ 

2,395 

49  359 

31 


The  Italian  Quarter. 

The  section  of  the  parish  which  lies  between  Houston  and  Canal 
Streets,  Broadway  and  the  Bowery,  is  almost  entirely  an  Italian  quarter. 
The  seven  blocks  adjoining  Broadway  are  occupied  by  stores,  twelve 
others  consist  largely  of  business  houses,  the  remaining  thirty-three  are 
tenanted  by  Italians,  with  a very  slight  admixture  of  Germans  and 
Irish.  # 

We  got  a bright  Italian  boy  who  interpreted,  and  there  seemed 
little  hesitation  in  imparting  information.  The  tenements  were  uni- 
formly overcrowded,  wages  low,  work  irregular,  rents  usually  in  ar- 
rears, and  food  obtained  on  trust  from  small  dealers.  It  was  at  first  diffi- 
cult to  believe  the  returns  to  be  true.  It  showed  a new  phase  of  human 
nature,  that  lessees  of  tenements  would  allow  rents  to  remain  unpaid 
for  three  months  without  putting  the  goods  on  the  side-walk,  or  that 
the  grocer  would  supply  food  on  the  same  terms.  The  fact  we  think 
was  proved  that  such  trustfulness  did  exist,  and  was  not  betrayed.  The 
Italians  are  rapidly  becoming  our  laborers  and  have  many  good  traits 
in  their  characters  which  rnay  make  of  them  valuable  citizens. 

The  uniform  overcrowding  of  the  rooms,  and  the  evils  which 
necessarily  flow  from  it  need  the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Health. 


Italian  Quarter. 


£ HOUST  o/v  ST 


33 

Italian  Quarter. 


Location:  Homes  and  Families. 


Blocks. 

Houses. 

| Families  (Number  of). 

I 

Total 

Popula- 

tion. 

Dwell- 

ing. 

Tenement. 

Parents. 

Sons. 

Daugh- 

ters. 

Lodgers. 

Front. 

Rear. 

58 

5 

212 

20 

450 

368  * 

243 

1. 186 

1 2.247 

59 

295 

52 

693 

414 

348 

383 

I 1.838 

60 

167 

15 

281 

177 

I7i 

92 

! 721 

61  &62 

3 

22 

17 

73 

42 

49 

21 

185 

63 

5 

7 

9 

4 

2 

22 

64 

24 

85 

3i 

236 

143 

113 

14 

506 

65 

10 

160 

70 

651 

527 

1 45° 

! 1,238 

2,866 

66 

4 

297 

36 

642 

449 

376 

257 

! L724 

6 7 

41 1 

10 

524 

313 

299 

163 

1,299 

68 

42 

4 

7 1 

42 

! 48 

17 

178 

09 

70 

62 

120 

69 

62 

II 

262 

7i 

210 

93 

57i 

398 

327 

6l 

L357 

72 

143 

27 

323 

230 

174 

58 

785 

73 

190 

36 

430 

309 

254 

6l 

i,o54 

74 

52 

94 

66 

48 

82 

29a 

75 

106 

52 

293 

21 1 

162 

20  1 

686 

76 

6 

13 

12 

13 

3 

4i 

77 

13 

28 

20 

13 

2 

65 

78 

137 

22 

293 

169 

185 

62 

709 

79 

160 

43 

390 

286 

281 

74  | 

1,031 

80 

no 

9 

224 

129 

hi 

44  ! 

508 

81 

82 

2 

16 

2 

36 

21 

22 

6 

00 

Vn 

83 

112 

17 

247 

164 

141 

59  j 

611 

84 

85 

16 

30 

1 7 

14 

23 

‘84 

86 

218 

99 

586 

41 1 

329 

932 

2.258 

87 

7 

176 

72 

470 

237 

270 

137 

1 . 1 14 

88 

i39 

32 

319 

216 

171 

241 

947 

89 

96 

30 

241 

192 

140 

526 

1,099, 

90 

10 

1 7 

14 

1 7 

4 

52 

9i 

53 

15 

126 

74 

63 

17  \ 

280 

92 

93 

35 

66 

36 

J4 

l6 

132 

94 

i5 

42 

120 

61 

40 

41 

262 

95 

7 

63 

80 

464 

275 

255 

429 

L413 

96 

53 

169 

424 

3°9 

254 

305 

1,292 

97 

44 

83 

80 

56 

36 

255 

98 

99 

Totals. 

62  1 

3-87I 

1 095 

9636 

6.490 

5-517 

6.623 

28,266 

34 


Italian  Quarter. 

Rooms. 


[Blocks. 

Number  of  Families  who  Occupy 

Total 

Families. 

Over  five 
Rooms. 

Five 

Rooms. 

Four 

Rooms. 

Three 

Rooms. 

Two 

Rooms. 

One 

Room. 

m 58 

5 

18 

146 

61 

230 

f 59 

11 

7 

. 46 

156 

122 

14 

356 

! 60 

7 

9 

13 

86 

39 

9 

163 

6 1 and62 

4 

5 

1 1 

16 

36 

63 

5 

. . 

5 

64 

5 

7 

5i 

52 

1 

116 

65 

7 

7 

24 

160 

121 

. . 

3i9 

66 

2 

8 

59 

141 

98 

3 

3i  1 

67 

12 

3 

64 

102 

181 

68 

3 

5 

5 

1 7 

11 

41 

69 

.... 

70 

3 

7 

5 

22 

28 

1 

”66 

71 

2 

15 

36 

‘78 

.... 

53 

72 

6 

3 

9 

67 

3 

166 

73 

8 

8 

40 

57 

89 

8 

210 

74 

4 

2 

8 

20 

15 

2 

5i 

75 

3 

10 

25 

85 

6 

129 

76 

”8 

1 

. . 

1 

77 

1 

4 

13 

78 

3 

1 

13 

72 

52 

3 

144 

79 

11 

6 

20 

46 

no 

4 

197 

80 

5 

. . 

8 

23 

70 

5 

hi 

81 

. . . 

.... 

82 

4 

5 

2 

3 

2 

16 

83 

1 

2 

56 

55 

10 

124 

84 

”6 

..... 

.... 

85 

2 

1 

3 

12 

86 

8 

6 

5o 

81 

153 

298 

87 

6 

5 

38 

36 

151 

236 

88 

2 

23 

89 

36 

150 

89 

1 

56 

62 

119 

90 

1 

2 

3 

2 

.... 

8 

9i 

2 

5 

5 

10 

44 

66 

92 

* 8* 

93 

2 

1 

9 

20 

94 

7 

7 

4i 

1 

56 

95 

3 

3 

22 

38 

146 

10 

226 

96 

5 

3 

11 

49 

133 

3 

204 

97 

4 

14 

23 

4i 

98 

.... 

99 

Totals. 

136 

1 1 19 

562 

1.666 

1.878 

1 10 

4 475 

Italian  Quarter. 

Rentals. 


Average  Monthly  Rentals  paid  by  Families  Occupying 


Blocks. 

Over  Five 

Five 

Four 

Three 

Two 

One 

Rooms. 

Rooms. 

Rooms. 

Rooms. 

Rooms. 

Room 

58 

$60  20 

$ 

$13  69 

$10  80 

$8  11 

$ 

59 

21  40 

20  28 

14  83 

10  82 

8 24 

5 5o 

60 

55  00 

21  33 

15  12 

10  87 

7 85 

5 09 

61  and  62 

83  75 
... 

15  00 

6 09 

8 18 

63 

16  50 

64 

22  60 



14  29 

10  45 

7 92 

6 50 

65 

39  43 

26  85 

11  12 

8 66 

7 63 

66 

23  50 

23  5° 

15  54 

11  61 

8 20 

3 34 

67 

37  58 

21  60 

14  43 

9 61 

7 20 

6 68 

68 

52  00 

19  20 

1 7 75 

12  58 

.... 

6 86 

69 

70 

23  67 

1 7 72 

15  80 

11  59 

7 82 

5 00 

7i 

24  50 

H 53 

14  36 

10  55 

7 16 

5 00 

72 

32  17 

21  33 

16  89 

10  03 

7 36 

4 33 

73 

35  12 

20  75 

16  95 

9 77 

8 40 

6 12 

74 

39  75 

19  50 

15  12 

11  05 

10  80 

4 00 

75 

50  00 

.... 

1 7 60 

11  20 

8 13 

4 83 

76 

77 

40  00 



27  00 

10  12 

78 

37  00 

35  °° 

18  23 

12  66 

4 65 

3 67 

79 

25  09 

18  92 

15  35 

13  5° 

7 55 

5 25 

80 

81 

18  80 

13  87 

10  91 

8 22 

5 40 

82 

30  75 

15  20 

15  00 

10  17 

9 5o 

2 65 

83 

30  00 

17  50 

10  54 

6 97 

84 

85 

34  00 

20  00 

10  33 

7 67 

86 

36  12 

21  23 

14  68 

9 39 

7 42 

87 

47  00 

28  40 

17  10 

10  73 

12  41 

88 

30  00 

15  84 

11  85 

8 13 

89 

35  o° 

19  67 

10  87 

7 53 

90 

27  00 

22  00 

10  00 

9i 

37  50 

17  60 

15  70 

11  90 

6 97 

92 

93 

23  00 

1 7 00 

10  00 

*13 

94 

37  67 

15  14 

12  15 

8 17 

5 5o 

95 

39  57 

15  23 

13  76 

7 47 

4 50 

96 

23  20 

18  00 

17  00 

11  68 

8 00 

5 47 

97 

19  50 

11  28 

8 47 

98 



99 

.... 

Totals. ! 

$1,049  7° 

$542  11 

$502  30 

$35i  43 

$238  16  \ 

&io3  87 

Average 

Rentals. 

$36  19 

%22  58 

$16  20 

$10  98 

$7  93 

&5  19 

36 


Italian  Quarter. 

Nationalities. 


in 

"u 

O 

S 

Native. 

German. 

Russian,  ' 

Polish,  anc  , 

German 

Tews. 

Irish. 

British. 

Italian. 

in 

ti 

If 

w 

Total 

58 

305 

43 

4 

49 

1 

1,829 

16 

2,247 

59 

641 

24 

2 

1 12 

2 

986 

64 

1,838 

60 

387 

24 

hi 

13 

180 

6 

721 

61  & 62 

72 

24 

2 

15 

8 

62 

2 

185 

63 

12 

2 

8 

22 

64 

247 

19 

5 

98 

121 

16 

506 

65 

542 

34 

7 

88 

15 

2,174 

6 

2.866 

66 

627 

28 

2 

n9 

2 

938 

8 

1,724 

67 

612 

22 

12 

200 

1 1 

414 

28 

1,299 

68 

108 

l9 

24 

1 

23 

6 

178 

69 

70 

130 

11 

35 

1 

75 

10 

262 

7 1 

672 

19 

8 

147 

3 

506 

2 

1,357 

72 

280 

45 

27 

433 

7*5 

73 

302 

35 

6 

72 

13 

617 

9 

1,054 

74 

1 14 

18 

28 

119 

11 

29a 

75 

325 

19 

2 

9 

16 

3*3 

2 

686 

76 

8 

3i 

2 

4i 

77 

33 

10 

2 

3 

15 

6} 

78 

205 

38 

3 

42 

7 

39o 

24 

7°9 

79 

257 

26 

66 

1 

668 

13 

1,031 

80 

3i 

1 7 

20 

2 

448 

508 

81 

82 

46 

26 

4 

7 

2 

" 85. 

83 

259 

23 

4 

19 

5 

300 

5 

611 

84 

85 

28 

1 1 

2 

43 

"84 

86 

507 

65 

46 

119 

1,510 

1 1 

2,258 

87 

430 

67 

62 

75 

*6 

467 

7 

1,114 

88 

303 

18 

6 

55 

560 

5 

947 

89 

204 

14 

56 

825 

1,099 

90 

32 

6 

6 

8 

52 

9i 

94 

36 

4i 

2 

104 

3 

260 

92 

93 

22 

16 

34 

4 

44 

12 

132 

94 

75 

2 

1 

1 1 

172 

1 

262 

95 

382 

20 

18 

83 

9 

906 

5 

1423 

96 

377 

7 

13 

874 

21 

1,292 

97 

83 

5 

167 

255 

98 

99 

Totals. 

8,752 

00  l 

J 

231 

1,765 

121 

16,319 

297 

28,266 

Italian  Quarter. 

Creeds. 


j Blocks. 

1 

Jewish. 

Roman 

Catholic. 

1 

1 

Lutheran. 

1 Protestant 

I Episcopal. 

Other 

Protestant 

Bodies. 

Unknown. 

1 

Total.1 

S8 

35 

2,161 

I 29 

1 

21 

2,247 

59 

1 

1.695 

33 

13 

39 

57 

1.838 

60 

8 

67  3 

18 

22 

721 

6 1 & 62 

9 

i5o 

1 1 

6 

9 

185 

63 

' • • 

17 

5 

. . 

22 

64 

2 

480 

24 

506 

65 

7 

2,805 

1 7 

32 

5 

2,866 

66 

14 

1,663 

16 

9 

7 

15 

1.724 

67 

2 

CI93 

22 

12 

23 

47 

1,299 

68 

154 

16 

1 

7 

178 

69 

70 

. . 

245 

8 

9 

262 

7 1 

1 314 

12 

20 

1 1 

B357 

72 

4 

733 

18 

12 

18 

785 

73 

16 

1,007  j 

20 

11 

1,054 

74 

262 

22 

5 

1 

290 

75 

6 

631 

19 

1 

29 

686 

76 

37 

4 

4i 

77 

1 7 1 

16 

14 

5 

1 1 

63 

78 

21 

644  | 

25 

7 

12 

709 

79 

19 

1,004 

6 

2 

1,031 

80 

81 

475 

9 

5 

19 

00 

0 

ur> 

82 

8 

5o 

3 

24 

‘ 85 

83 

8a 

10 

542 

21 

13 

5 

20 

6l  I 

85 

25 

’56 

3 

“84 

86 

56 

2.138 

37 

27 

2,258 

87 

40 

1,023 

28 

1 7 

5 

1 

1,114 

88 

10 

912 

22 

2 

1 

947 

89 

1,089 

3 

7 

1,099 

90 

26 

16 

10 

52 

9i 

239 

12 

7 

3 

19 

280 

92 

93 

39 

77 

16 

132 

94 

252 

4 

6 

262 

95 

39 

1,348 

12 

12 

4 

8 

1.423 

96 

12 

1,268 

4 

8 

1 292 

97 

3 

240 

*8 

4 

255 

98 

99 

.... 

Total. 

386 

26  620  1 

476 

231 

TQ7  1 

356 

28  266 

38 


Resume  of  Parish  Statistics. 

From  the  preceding  enumeration  we  obtain  the  following  condensed  results  : 


Homes. 

Dwelling 

House. 

Tenement. 

Total. 

Front. 

Rear. 

German  Section 

270 

572 

79 

921 

Jewish  “ 

294 

2,587 

559 

3440 

Italian  “ 

62 

3.728 

1,068 

4,858 

626 

6.887 

1.706 

9.219 

Families. 

Consisting  of 

Total. 

Parents. 

Sons. 

Daughters 

Lodgers. 

German  Section.  ... 

Jewish  “ 

Italian  “ .. .. 

7,837 

21,199 

9.636 

3-534 

12.800 

6,490 

3438 

11,46^ 

5.517 

1,782 

3.897 

6,623 

16,391 

49-359 

28,266 

38.672 

1 22.824 

20,2 1 8 

12.302 

94,016 

Families  Occupying 


Rooms. 

Over 

Five 

Rooms. 

Five 

Rooms. 

Four 

Rooms. 

Three 

Rooms. 

Two 

Rooms. 

One 

Room. 

Total. 

German  Section. ... 

308 

262 

1,004 

1,407 

927 

34 

3,942 

Jewish  “ .... 

355 

297 

1,893 

4434 

3-799 

196 

10.774 

Italian  “ .. .. 

136 

119 

562 

1,666 

1,878 

1 10 

4,475 

799 

678 

3459 

7 3°7 

6 604 

340I  t 

19.191 

Rentals. 

Average  Monthly  Rental  of  Families  Occupying 

Over  5 
Rooms. 

Five 

Rooms. 

Four 

Rooms. 

Three 

Rooms. 

Two 

Rooms. 

One 

Room. 

Totals. 

German  Section. . . 
Jewish  “ 

Italian  “ 

$46  82 
30  67 
36  19 

$26  1 7 

15  36 

22  58 

$18  19 
11  76 
16  20 

$13  61 

8 78 
10  98 

$9  62 

5 98 
7 93 

$5  43 

4 51 

5 18 

$119  68 

$64  11 

$46  15 

$33  37 

$23  53 

$15  12 

Average  for  Parish. 

$39  89 

$21  39 

$15  38 

$11  12 

$7  86 

$5  04 

39 


Nationalities. 

Native. 

German. 

Jewish. 

Irish. 

British. 

Italian. 

Miscel. 

Total. 

i 

German  Section 

7.609 

6.531 

565 

331 

135 

155 

1 065 

16.391 

Jewish  “ 

16,927 

5,210 

21.443 

553 

404 

512 

4 3io 

49  359 

Italian  “ 

8,752 

781 

231 

1.765 

121 

16.319 

297 

28  266 

33,288 

12.522 

22  239 

2,649 

660 

16,986 

5672 

94016 

Creeds. 

Jewish. 

Roman 
| Catholic. 

Lutheran. 

Protestant 

Episcopal. 

Other 

1 Protestant 
, Bodies. 

Unknown. 

Total. 

German  Section  . . 

1,710 

5,041 

5,47i 

1.803 

856 

1,510 

1 , 

I 16,391 

Jewish  “ .... 

34,740 

5,184 

5,210 

1. 194 

636 

2,395 

49-359 

Italian  “ .... 

386 

26,620 

476 

231 

197 

356, 

28,266 

36,836 

36.845 

11. 157 

3.228 

1,689 

4.261' 

94,016 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  TENEMENT. 


‘ lI  do  not  wonder  at  men  craving  for  stimulants  who  live  in  an  atmosphere  which 
would  kill  an  oak .” — The  Earl  of  Derby, 

Wages,  rentals,  density  of  population  and  overcrowding  have  an 
intimate  relation  to  each  other,  and  the  largest  and  most  difficult  factor 
in  the  problem  is  the  tenement.  It  is  technically  “ a house  occupied 
by  three  or  more  families  living  independently  and  doing  their  cook- 
ing on  the  premises;  or  by  more  than  two  families  on  a floor,  and  hav- 
ing a common  right  in  the  halls,  staircases  and  yards,” 

In  the  City  of  New  York  276,565  families  comprising  1,225  41 1 in- 
dividuals live  in  tenements.  It  would  be  a mistake  to  suppose  that 
these  are  all  mean,  squalid,  or  dirty.  In  the  area  with  which  we  are 
concerned,  however,  and  of  which  condensed  schedules  have  been  sub- 
mitted, it  will  be  observed  that  of  the  19,191  families  living  in  the  par- 
ish, 13,911  occupy  tenements  of  two  or  three  rooms,  3459  of  four 
rooms,  while  only  626  occupy  houses.  Eight-ninths  of  the  total  popu- 
lation, therefore,  occupy  tenements  of  this  size. 

From  the  particular  conformation  of  the  city,  it  being  divided  into 
rectangular  blocks,  the  absence  of  rear  access  and  the  high  price  of 
land,  every  inch  of  available  space  is  occupied  by  buildings. 

There  are  usually  four  or  more  families  on  a floor;  the  halls  and 
staircases  are  narrow  and  dimly  lighted,  and  the  bedrooms  are  dark 
closets,  ventilated  from  an  interior  well.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that 
12,244  lodgers,  usually  males,  form  part  of  the  families  of  this  area, 
and  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  how  serious  a menace  it  is  to  the 
purity  of  family  life,  or  the  decent  training  of  children.  We  select  a 
typical  block  from  each  of  the  Jewish  and  Italian  quarters.  By  refer- 
ence to  the  map  it  will  be  observed  that  block  40,  lying  between  De- 
laney and  Broome,  Allen  and  Eldridge  Streets,  contains  37  front  and 
1 rear  tenements  with  a total  population  of  1844  or  48.5  to  each  tene- 
ment. 

In  the  Italian  quarter  in  Mott  and  Spring  Streets  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing returns: 

Tenement  of  3 rooms,  rent  $11  per  month,  husband,  wife,  4 daugh- 
ters (eldest  18),  2 sons,  and  8 male  lodgers.  Total,  16. 

Tenement  of  2 rooms,  $8  per  month,  widow,  son  and  9 male 
lodgers. 


40 


41 


Tenement  of  3 rooms,  rent  $9  per  month,  husband,  wife,  1 daugh- 
ter (age  18),  2 sons,  married  lodger,  wife,  3 daughters  (14  and  16),  1 
son  and  4 young  men  lodgers.  Total,  15  persons. 

In  families  like  the  above,  unskilled  laborers  earning  low  and  un- 
certain wages  state  that  they  cannot  pay  the  high  rentals  without  lodg- 
ers, and  that  it  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  their  being  able  to  keep  a 
roof  over  their  heads. 

The  tenement  in  some  form  is  here  to  stay  and  must  be  reckoned 
with.  It  finally  resolves  itself  into  a business  question.  With  the 
present  price  of  building  sites,  material,  and  labor,  can  tenement 
houses  in  blocks  or  otherwise  be  erected  at  present  or  lower  rentals 
and  return  a fair  business  percentage,  say  6 per  cent,  on  the  capital  in- 
vested ? We  are  informed  by  a gentleman  who  speaks  with  authority 
that  such  return  is  not  possible.  Philanthropist  pioneers  like  Peabody 
and  Guiness  in  London,  or  Cutting  and  Pratt  in  New  York,  will  be 
willing  to  accept  the  risk  as  their  contribution  towards  a practical  so- 
lution of  the  question,  but  the  mass  of  people  living  in  tenements  is 
too  great  to  be  fully  met  from  such  necessarily  limited  resources. 

We  have  had  submitted  to  us  a plan  which  we  think  has  decided 
merit.  There  is  a plot  of  land  in  the  City  of  Brooklyn  within  easy 
reach  of  the  Bridge,  75  feet  front  and  208  feet  deep,  which  can  be 
bought  for  $25,000.  Upon  it  a company  of  gentlemen  propose  to 
erect  a block  of  buildings  six  stories  high,  with  a central,  open  court 
20  feet  wide,  running  from  front  to  rear;  four  stores  on  the  corners  of 
the  ground  floor,  and  408  rooms  in  suits  of  2,  3,  or  4,  to  be  rented  at 
$3  for  each  room  per  month. 

From  the  plan  attached,  showing  the  first  floor,  it  will  be  seen 
that  each  suite  is  self-contained;  all  necessary  sanitary  appliances 
are  provided,  no  rooms  intercommunicate,  but  all  are  accessible. 
The  cost  of  construction  is  reduced  by  the  following  method:  the 
frame  is  to  be  constructed  of  iron  and  steel,  the  filling  of  second- 
hand brick,  and  the  floors  fire-proof.  The  doors  and  windows  are  also 
to  be  second-hand,  and  the  building  itself  covered  with  corrugated 
iron.  The  cost  of  construction  would  amount  to  $98  000,  land  $25,- 
000,  and  allowing  25  per  cent,  off  for  running  expenses,  and  25  per 
cent,  for  vacancies  and  losses,  the  rental  would  amount  to  $7344  or  6 
per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested. 

In  all  large  cities  there  arise  cases  of  necessary  reconstruction  on 
a large  scale  beyond  the  scope  of  private  enterprise  where  the  value 
and  effectiveness  of  an  enlightened  municipal  government  is  of  infinite 
value.  Twenty  years  ago,  near  the  centre  of  the  City  of  Birmingham, 


5cale  - !£:incn:ro:Ttin  rooT- 


A^rf- 


Proposed  Model  Tenement. 


43 


England,  there  stood  43  acres  of  land,  covered  by  narrow  streets,  and 
poor,  insanitary  dwellings.  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain  was  the  then 
Mayor.  The  Corporation  under  the  Artisans’  Dwelling  Act  bought 
the  property  at  a cost  of  $8,285,000.  A wide,  handsome  street  was 
cut  through  the  centre  from  New  Street  to  Aston  Road,  and  the  front 
sites  were  sold  at  large  prices  under  80  years’  building  leases.  The 
corporation  has  sustained  no  financial  loss,  and  as  these  leases  fall 
in  the  speculation  will  prove  of  great  value  to  future  generations 
of  the  citizens  of  Birmingham.  On  a portion  of  the  land  thus  ac- 
quired and  formerly  occupied  by  a block  of  back  to-back  tenements 
the  Corporation  built  22  workingmen’s  cottages  of  5 rooms  each. 
They  cost  $20,000,  were  equipped  with  the  best  sanitary  appliances  and 
were  rented  at  $5.28  per  month,  without  loss  to  the  city.  After  adding 
25  per  cent,  for  rates  and  taxes,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  rental  is  not 
half  what  would  be  paid  for  similar  accommodation  in  New  York.  In 
these  large  financial  transactions  it  has  never  been  hinted  that  a dollar 
of  public  money  has  stuck  to  the  hands  through  which  it  passed.  In  the 
present  condition  of  municipal  rule  in  New  York  such  a handling  of 
the  tenement-house  problem  is  impossible.  But  as  New  York  is  bet- 
ter than  its  present  rulers,  we  do  not  despair  of  seeing  a Mayor  and 
Alderman  drawn  from  its  best  citizenship;  permanent  heads  of  depart- 
ments; Greater  New  York  with  cheap  and  rapid  transit  to  reach  it; 
and  thus  diminish  pressure  of  population  at  the  centre,  and  take  off 
some  of  the  strain  from  the  nether  section  of  city  life. 


EDUCATION  AND  CITIZENSHIP. 

It  is  in  the  family  that  the  future  of  a people  is  shaped.  Each  true  home  is  a king- 
dom , a school , a sanctuary  .” — Bishop  Westcott. 

In  the  condensed  schedule  on  nationalities  it  will  be  seen  that 
33,288  persons  are  of  native  and  60,728  of  foreign  birth.  Our  franchise 
is  practically  manhood  suffrage.  The  wider  the  franchise  the  more 
urgent  becomes  the  need  of  a widely  diffused  educated  intelligence 
that  it  may  be  properly  used.  Emigration  has  brought  to  our  shores 
increasing  numbers  of  foreigners,  alien  in  speech  and  thought,  and  who 
have  no  proper  appreciation  of  the  true  meaning  of  liberty.  These  60,000 
are  the  prey  of  the  venal  politician,  to  be  naturalized,  registered,  and 
voted  for  his  own  base  purposes.  The  hand  held  out  to  him  is  the 
hand  of  Tammany.  Time  will  leaven  the  lump,  but  it  will  take  time. 

Of  the  33,000  called  native  many  are  necessarily  the  children  of 
these  foreign  emigrants,  of  which  the  Russian  Jew  and  Italian  form  so 
large  a proportion.  They  are  our  wards,  to  whom,  failing  the  training 
of  home,  we  are  bound,  if  only  in  our  own  defence,  to  give  such  an 
education  as  will  enable  them  to  read  history  intelligently.  There  is 
no  nobler  testimony  to  the  inherent  greatness  of  this  nation  than  its 
graded  system  of  public  schools,  free  to  all  comers,  irrespective  of  creed 
or  nationality.  In  city  and  hamlet  alike  its  buildings  catch  the  eye  of 
the  observant  stranger.  In  this  land  no  one  needs  to  reach  an  ignorant 
manhood,  and  the  key  to  unlock  the  stores  of  knowledge  is  put  within 
the  easy  reach  of  every  child.  The  Italian  and  Jewish  quarters  may 
be  revolutionized,  and  in  twenty  years,  with  a judiciously  applied  limi- 
tation of  our  foreign  emigration,  become  American  in  speech,  thought 
and  aspiration.  After  the  school  age  comes  the  crucial  time  of  a boy’s 
life,  between  boyhood  and  manhood.  School  is  behind,  the  world  is 
before,  and  the  imagination  sees  i(  men  as  trees  walking.”  It  is  the 
age  for  receiving  deep  and  abiding  impressions.  To  meet  this  need 
the  Church  Temperance  Legion  has  been  formed  on  the  personal 
basis  of  “ Soberness,  Purity  and  Reverence,”  and  includes  training  in, 

1.  Military  drill, 

2.  Athletics, 

3.  Declamation, 

4.  Knowledge  of  the  History  and  Constitution  of  the  United 

States, 

in  order  that  the  American  boy  may  be  physically  as  well  as  mentally 
and  morally  trained  for  his  future  duties. 

44 


LIQUOR  SALOONS,  BROTHELS  AND  GAMBLING 

HOUSES. 


1 ■ Many  of  the  persons  engaged  in  the  liquor  business  were  in  political  sympathy 
with  him , and  thjy  had  contributed  time  and  money  to  further  his  political  interests. 

“ He  also  said  he  was  determined  they  should  be  protected  against  any  police  inter- 
ference in  the  transaction  of  their  business;  that  that  was  the  intent  of  the  resolution 
and  was  so  understood  by  all  the  Commissioners , and  they  wanted  this  requirement 
complied  with." — Police  Commissioner  Martin,  as  quoted  by  Supt.  Murray. 

We  make  no  apology  for  grouping  together  the  trinity  of  evil 
(rampant  in  all  large  cities)  which  forms  the  title  of  this  chapter.  We 
do  not  say  that  in  their  inception  they  are  equally  evil;  we  do  say  that 
in  a sufficient  number  of  cases  to  leaven  the  whole,  the  brothel  and  the 
gambling  house  are  annexes  to  the  saloon,  and  may  be  justly  restricted 
or  prohibited  by  law  in  the  best  interests  of  the  people. 

Before  an  institution  can  be  justly  so  restricted  or  prohibited  must 
come  the  onus  of  proof,  that  it  is  there  in  unwarranted  numbers,  or  that 
its  existence  is  prejudicial  to  the  general  welfare. 

As  a first  object  lesson  we  give  sketch  maps  of  the  number  and 
location  of  liquor  saloons  in  each  of  the  three  quarters  into  which  the 
parish  naturally  divides  itself. 

Taking  the  parish  as  a whole  we  have  in  the 


German  Quarter 147 

Jewish  “ 237 

Italian  “ 179 


Total  saloons 563 


Now  these  are  not  benevolent  institutions.  It  is  a condition  of  their 
existence  that  they  meet  the  necessary  expenditures  involved  in  rental, 
running  expenses,  and  leave  a sufficient  margin  of  profit  to  maintain 
the  family  of  the  saloon  keeper.  The  drink  bill  of  the  United  States 
is,  at  the  lowest  estimate,  $900,000,000,  and  the  number  of  saloons 
225,000.  It  is  an  underestimate  for  New  York  to  say  that  the  average 
cash  returns  must  amount  to  $4000  per  year,  and  therefore  the  expend- 
iture on  a luxury  by  a poor  population,  earning  scanty  wages  and  with 
irregular  work,  is 

4000  x 563  = $2,252,000  annually. 

We  put  this  simply  as  an  estimate,  and  taking  the  population  as 

45 


German  Quarter. 


AV  A 

Population 1^,39I- 

Liquor  saloons x47- 


Or  i to  1 1 1.5  of  the  population. 


30  wC 


Jewish  Quarter. 


E HOuStoa/ 


St 


G«  AajD 


ST 


St  £a 


ST 


Population 49,359 

Liquor  saloons 237 

Or  1 to  every  208.2  of  the  population. 


L U DL.  OW 


Italian  Quarter. 


E HOUS  TO\f 


CA\AI 


ST 


Population 

Liquor  saloons 


28,266. 

i79- 

Or  1 to  every  157.9  of  the  population. 


.49 


per  schedule  at  94,000 — eliminating  women  and  young  children  who 
are  presumably  not  customers  of  the  saloon,  we  have  18,000  men, 
fathers  or  members  of  families,  and  1 2,000  male  lodgers,  expending 
annually  on  liquor  over  two  and  a quarter  millions  of  dollars,  an  aver- 
age of  $75  per  year  or  $1.45  per  week  each.  Whether  this  be  an  over- 
estimate or  not,  no  man  would  argue  that  563  saloons  are  necessary  in. 
such  an  area  or  such  a quarter. 

During  our  twelve  years’  acquaintance  with  the  city,  we  have  never 
known  a reputable  Board  of  Excise,  except  during  the  chairmanship  of 
Mr.  Woodman,  when  by  fair  and  legitimate  means  a check  was  put 
upon  their  unlimited  extension. 

They,  however,  carry  on  their  trade  under  legal  limitations  and 
restrictions.  The  body  of  men  whose  duty  it  is  to  see  that  these  re- 
strictions are  observed  are  the  police  controlled  by  a superintendent 
whose  action  is  modulated  by  a politically  balanced  board  of  four 
police  commissioners.  We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  the  superintend- 
ent that  63,000  breaches  of  the  excise  law  have  occurred  during  the 
past  two  months,  and  without  being  able  to  verify  our  opinion  by  facts, 
we  would  be  willing  to  hazard  the  prediction  that  the  law- breaking  sa- 
loon keeper  will  be  proved  to  have  been  as  large  a mine  of  wealth  to 
the  grasping  police  captain  as  the  disruptable  houses.  Now  that  inde- 
pendent action  has  been  taken,  and  cases  for  breach  of  the  law  are 
coming  before  the  police  justices,  it  is  opportune  to  ask  whether  the 
proper  tribunal  for  the  adjudication  of  such  cases  is  the  court  of  a 
police  justice  (like  Paddy  Divver  for  instance)  who  was  promoted  from 
the  bar  of  the  liquor  saloon  to  the  bench  of  justice,  or  Justice  Hogan, 
whose  decision  on  a test  excise  case  has  just  been  overruled  by  Judge 
Barrett. 

We  do  not  claim  that  the  legislative  panacea  for  the  octopus  of  the 
liquor  saloon  has  been  found,  but  a diminution  of  the  number  of  sa- 
loons to  a proportion  of  1 to  500  of  the  population,  a tax  of  $1000  for 
a license,  and  a reformation  of  the  personnel  of  the  bench  of  police 
justices  before  whom  breaches  of  the  law  are  tried,  would  be  a definite 
improvement  of  the  conditions  under  which  a danger  trade  is  now 
carried  on.  Men  are  more  urgently  needed  than  measures;  and  en- 
forcement than  new  laws. 


THE  SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  THE 
CHURCH. 


“ Within  the  churches  one  of  the  signs  of  this  change  is  visible  in  a grouting  ten- 
dency to  assert  that  religion  it  concerned  with  man  s actual  state  in  this  world , as  well 
as  with  his  possible  state  in  the  next." — ‘ Social  Evolution,”  Kidd. 

The  last  quarter  of  a century  has  witnessed  a great  change  in  the 
extent  of  the  recognition  of  their  social  responsibilities  by  all  churches. 
No  Christian  man  who  has  considered  the  condition  of  the  lower 
stratum  of  city  life,  but  must  be  thrilled  or  appalled  at  the  magnitude 
of  the  work  before  the  churches.  There  is  no  more  startling  exempli- 
fication pf  the  nature,  extent  and  difficulty  of  that  work  than  that  pre- 
sented in  certain  sections  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Imagine  a dense 
area  in  the  heart  of  the  city  inhabited  by  94,000  souls,  in  which  the  an- 
tagonistic forces  for  good  and  evil  are  represented  by  seventeen  churches 
and  563  liquor  saloons.  They  have  each  numerically  a large,  and  so- 
cially a poor,  constituency.  They  are  largely  an  unassimilated  mass, 
showing  three  clear  lines  of  national  cleavage.  Naturally,  from  their 
previous  circumstances  and  training,  the  Russians  and  Poles  fall  to  the 
care  and  guidance  of  the  rabbi  of  the  Jewish  synagogue,  the  Italian  as 
naturally  gravitates  to  the  Roman  Church  of  his  fathers,  and  the  Ger- 
man to  the  Church  of  Luther.  Allowing  for  36,836  Jews,  36,845  Ro- 
manists, 11,157  Lutherans,  there  still  remains  9178,  of  which  4917 
belong  to  the  different  Protestant  bodies,  and  4261  who  are  unknown 
or  unattached. 

Before  each  of  these  churches,  however  antagonistic  or  divergent 
their  creeds,  there  lies  the  common  duty  of  raising,  purifying  and  im- 
proving the  conditions  under  which  the  hard  battle  of  life  is  waged. 
There  is  no  larger  field  for  the  exemplification  of  the  noble  “struggle 
for  the  lives  of  others,”  which  is  an  integral  condition  of  the  “ Ascent 
of  Man.”  It  is  said,  and  on  the  surface  it  is  true,  that  churches  have 
deserted  down-town  districts.  They  have  moved  upwards  because  the 
necessity  has  been  upon  them.  The  Jew  has  crowded  out  the  Gentile 
and  the  Italian  the  Irishman.  The  nature  of  the  work  has  been  changed, 
not  its  volume.  The  down- town  church  must  be  a missionary  enter- 
prise, whose  means  and  men  must  be  sought  from  without  rather  than 
from  within,  and  it  has  to  cater  for  bodies  as  well  as  souls.  Its  social 
work  is  well-nigh  as  urgent,  elevated  and  important  as  its  religious. 

50 


51 


The  rector  of  the  down-town  parish  leads  the  advance  guard  of  civili- 
zation. He  needs  to  be  a man  of  consecration  and  power,  with,  it  seems 
to  us,  the  following  requisites  for  successful  work  : 

r.  That  the  rector  must  be  as  closely  in  touch  with  his  people  as 
any  resident  of  the  neighborhood,  and  must  remember  that  as  much,  if 
not  more,  can  be  done  in  the  week  days  as  upon  the  Sunday. 

2.  That  he  should  have  an  adequate  staff  of  helpers,  male  and  fe- 
male, the  latter  as  important  as  the  former. 

3.  That  whilst  the  foremost  place  should  be  given  to  the  purely 
religious  work  of  the  Church,  the  orderly  holding  of  its  services,  the 
reverent  administration  of  its  sacraments,  and  the  religious  training 
of  its  young,  there  should  be  large  space  allotted  for  social  and  secular 
work. 

4.  Clubs  for  boys  and  societies  for  girls  are  essential. 

5.  The  gymnasium  and  swimming-bath  for  physical  culture,  and 
the  library  and  reading-room  for  mental  training,  are  equally  impor- 
tant. 

6.  A club  for  men,  managed  by  themselves  (Teetotum),  and  guilds 
or  vereins  for  women,  would  enable  the  rector  to  meet  his  men  on  even 
terms  without  patronage  on  the  one  hand,  or  mendicancy  on  the  other. 

7.  As  the  husband  earns  and  the  wife  spends,  often  neither 
thriftily  nor  intelligently,  there  should  be  a school  for  the  teaching  of 
cheap  cookery  and  household  management,  and  the  training  of  and 
care  for  children. 

This  work  to  be  of  value  should  be  continuous,  and  therefore  the 
down-town  parish  should  be  under  the  wing  of  the  uptown  church 
with  larger  means,  which  would  guarantee  its  continuous  corporate  ex- 
istence. 

The  enquiry  was  undertaken  with  the  view  of  extending  the  use- 
fulness of  our  own  Church,  but  we  would  be  recreant  to  all  princi- 
ples of  fairness  and  justness  did  we  not  recognize  the  ample  scope 
given,  and  the  good  work  done  by  the  other  denominations  who,  with 
ourselves,  occupy  the  field. 

We  are  aware  (because  in  the  course  of  our  enquiry  we  have  met 
with  the  evidences  of  it)  of  the  work  among  the  men  of  the  cheap  lodg- 
ing houses,  carried  on  by  the  City  Mission;  of  the  personal  influence 
for  good  of  two  members  of  the  Salvation  Army  who  reside  in  the 
Italian  quarter;  of  the  Neighborhood  Guild,  which  provides  the  helpful 
common  meeting  ground  for  social  relaxation;  and  of  the  institution  in 
Rivington  Street,  where  a bit  of  green  is  interjected  into  the  hard  lives 
of  the  young.  To  all  these  agencies  we  can  wish  God  speed,  and  in- 
creased power  to  do  His  will. 


